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Dhammapada.  English 
The  Dhammapada 


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THE 


SACRED  BOOKS  OF  THE  EAST 


[10] 


VOLUME   X 

Part  I.     The  Dhammapada 
Part  II.    The   Sutta-Nipata 


Uonlron 

HENRY     FROWDE 


OXPOED     UNIVEESITY     PBESS     WAREHOUSE 
7    PATERNOSTER    ROW 


THE 


SACRED  BOOKS  OF  THE  EAST 


TRANSLATED 


BY  VARIOUS  ORIENTAL  SCHOLARS 


AND    EDITED    BY 

F.   MAX    MULLER 


VOLUME    X 
PART   I 


AT     THE     CLARENDON     PRESS 


l8bl 


\_All  righh  reserved'\ 


THE    DHAMMAPADA 

A  COLLECTION  OF  VERSES 

BEING  ONE  OF  THE  CANONICAL  BOOKS  OF  THE 
BUDDHISTS 

TRANSLATED      FROM      PALI 

BY 
/ 

F.    MAX    MULLER 


AT     THE     CLARENDON     PRESS 
i88i 

[All  rights  reserved] 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction  to  the  Dhammapada 


ix-lv 


DHAMMAPADA. 

Chapter  1. 

The  Twin-verses  ......         :^ 

»> 

2. 

On  Earnestness     . 

9 

}) 

3. 

Thought 

12 

>> 

4. 

Flowers 

i6 

>} 

5. 

The  Fool      . 

20 

)} 

6. 

The  Wise  Man  (Paw^ita) 

•          23 

>> 

7. 

The  Venerable  (Arhat) 

•          27 

>5 

8. 

The  Thousands    . 

•          31 

» 

9. 

Evil      .... 

•       34 

» 

10. 

Punishment . 

.       36 

)J 

11. 

Old  Age 

.       41 

5> 

12. 

Self      .... 

45 

>> 

13. 

The  World   . 

•       47 

» 

14. 

The  Buddha  (the  Awakened) 

•       49 

» 

15. 

Happiness    . 

•       53 

» 

16. 

Pleasure 

56 

» 

17. 

Anger 

58 

J> 

18. 

Impurity       .... 

60 

» 

19. 

The  Just       . 

64 

>> 

20. 

The  Way     .... 

67 

»> 

21. 

Miscellaneous 

70 

5> 

22. 

The  Downward  Course 

74 

>J 

23. 

The  Elephant 

77 

» 

24. 

Thirst           .... 

80 

>> 

25. 

The  Bhikshu  (Mendicant)      . 

85 

>> 

[ndex 

26. 

The  Brahmawa  (Arhat)  . 

89 
97 

Transliteration  of  Oriental  Alphabets  adopted  for  the 
Translations  of  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East  (see  the 
end  of  this  volume) ^^^ 


p  EI  IT  c !]':::  ■  ^• 

RtC.JUN  IBb. 
THEOLOGIC-. 

INTRODUCTION 

TO 

THE    DHAMMAPADA. 


The  Dhammapada,  a  Canonical  Book. 

The  Dhammapada  forms  part  of  the  Pah  Buddhist  canon, 
though  its  exact  place  varies  according  to  different  authori- 
ties, and  we  have  not  as  yet  a  sufficient  number  of  complete 
MSS.  of  the  Tipi/aka  to  help  us  to  decide  the  question  \ 

Those  who  divide  that  canon  into  three  Pi/akas  or 
baskets,  the  Vinaya-pi^"aka,  Sutta-pi/aka,  and  Abhidham- 
ma-pi/aka,  assign  the  Dhammapada  to  the  Sutta-pi/aka. 
That  Pi/aka  consists  of  five  Nikayas :  the  Digha-nikaya, 
the  Ma^^//ima-nikaya,  the  Sa;«yutta-nikaya,  the  Anguttara- 
nikaya,  and  the  Khuddaka-nikaya.  The  fifth,  or  Khuddaka- 
nikaya,  comprehends  the  following  works  :  i.  Khuddaka- 
pa//^a;  3.  DHAMMAPADA;  3.  Udana  ;  4.  Itivuttaka;  5.  Sutta- 
nipata  ;  6.  Vimanavatthu  ;  7.  Petavatthu  ;  8.  Theragatha  ; 
9.Therigatha;  10.  6^ataka ;  ii.Niddesa;  12.  Pa/isambhida; 
13.  Apadana;  14.  Buddhavawsa  ;  15. /fariya-pi/aka. 

According  to  another  division  ^,  however,  the  whole  Bud- 
dhist canon  consists  of  five  Nikayas :  the  Digha-nikaya,  the 
Ma^^^ima-nikaya,  the  Sa;;^yutta-nikayaj  the  Aiiguttara- 
nikaya,  and  the  fifth,  the  Khuddaka-nikaya,  which  Khud- 
daka-nikaya is  then  made  to  comprehend  the  whole  of 
the  Vinaya  (discipline)  and  Abhidhamma  (metaphysics), 
together  with  the  fifteen  books  beginning  with  the  Khud- 
daka-pa//^a. 

The  order  of  these  fifteen  books  varies,  and  even,  as 
it  would  seem,  their  number.     The  Dighabha;/aka  school 

1  See  Peer,  Journal  Asiatique,  1871,  p.  263.  There  is  now  at  least  one  com- 
plete MS.  of  the  Tipi^aka,  the  Phayre  MS.,  at  the  India  Office,  and  Professor 
Forchhammer  has  just  published  a  most  useful  List  of  Pdli  MSS.,  collected  in 
Burma,  the  largest  collection  hitherto  known. 

2  See  Childers,  s.  v.  Nikaya,  and  extracts  from  Buddhaghosa's  comment.ary 
on  the  Brahmag-ala-sutta. 


DHAMMAPADA. 


admits  twelve  books  only,  and  assigns  them  all  to  the  Abhi- 
dhamma,  while  the  Ma^^/nmabha;/akas  admit  fifteen  books, 
and  assign  them  to  the  Sutta-pi/aka.  The  order  of  the 
fifteen  books  is:  i.  6^ataka  [lo] ;  2.  Mahaniddesa  [n]; 
3.  ATullaniddesa  [n];  4-  Pa/isambhidamagga  [12]  ;  5.  Sutta- 
nipata  [5]  ;  6.  DHAMMAPADA  [2]  ;  7.  Udana  [3]  ;  8.  Iti- 
vuttaka  [4]  ;  9.  Vimanavatthu  [6]  ;  10.  Petavatthu  [7]  ; 
II.  Theragatha  [8];  12.  Therigatha  [9];  13.  Kaviya.- 
pi/aka  [15]  ;  14.  Apadana  [13]  ;  15.  Buddhava;«sa  [14]  \ 

The  Khuddaka-pa///a  is  left  out  in  the  second  list,  and 
the  number  is  brought  to  fifteen  by  dividing  Niddesa  into 
Maha-niddesa  and  iTulla-niddesa. 

There  is  a  commentary  on  the  Dhammapada  in  Pali, 
and  supposed  to  be  written  by  Buddhaghosa  ^,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  fifth  century  A.D.  In  explaining  the  verses  of  the 
Dhammapada,  the  commentator  gives  for  every  or  nearly 
every  verse  a  parable  to  illustrate  its  meaning,  which  is 
likewise  believed  to  have  been  uttered  by  Buddha  in  his 
intercourse  with  his  disciples,  or  in  preaching  to  the  multi- 
tudes that  came  to  hear  him. 

Date  of  the  Dhammapada. 
The  only  means  of  fixing  the  date  of  the  Dhammapada 
is  trying  to  ascertain  the  date  of  the  Buddhist  canon 
of  which  it  forms  a  part,  or  the  date  of  Buddhaghosa, 
who  wrote  a  commentary  on  it.  This,  however,  is  by  no 
means  easy,  and  the  evidence  on  which  we  have  to  rely  is 
such  that  we  must  not  be  surprised  if  those  who  are 
accustomed  to  test  historical  and  chronological   evidence 

*  The  figures  within  brackets  refer  to  the  other  list  of  books  in  the  Khud- 
daka-nikaya.     See  also  p.  xxviii. 

*  M.  Leon  Feer  in  the  Journal  Asiatique,  1871,  p.  266,  mentions  another  com- 
mentary of  a  more  philosophical  character,  equally  ascribed  to  Buddhaghosa, 
and  having  the  title  Vivara  Bra  Dhammapada,  i.  e.  L'auguste  Dhammapada 
devoile.  Professor  Forchhammer  in  his  'List  of  Manuscripts,'  1879-80,  men- 
tions the  following  works  in  connection  with  the  Dhammapada  :  Dhammapada- 
Nissayo ;  Dh.  P.  A^Aakatha  by  Buddhaghosa ;  Dh.  P.  Attha.ka.tha.  Nissayo, 
3  vols.,  containing  a  complete  translation  of  the  commentary ;  Dh.  P.  Yattku. 
Of  printed  books  he  quotes :  Kayanupassanakyam,  a  work  based  on  the 
Garavaggo,  Mandalay,  1876  (390  pages),  and  Dhammapada-desanakyam, 
printed  in  '  British  Burma  News.' 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 


in  Greece  and  Rome,  decline  to  be  convinced  by  it.  As 
a  general  rule,  I  quite  agree  that  we  cannot  be  too  sceptical 
in  assigning  a  date  to  ancient  books,  particularly  if  we 
intend  to  use  them  as  documents  for  tracing  the  history 
of  human  thought.  To  the  initiated,  I  mean  to  those  who 
have  themselves  worked  in  the  mines  of  ancient  Oriental 
literature,  such  extreme  scepticism  may  often  seem  un- 
scientific and  uncalled  for.  They  are  more  or  less  aware 
of  hundreds  of  arguments,  each  by  itself,  it  may  be,  of 
small  weight,  but  all  combined  proving  irresistible.  They 
are  conscious,  too,  of  having  been  constantly  on  the  look 
out  for  danger,  and,  as  all  has  gone  on  smoothly,  they  feel 
sure  that,  in  the  main,  they  are  on  the  right  road.  Still  it  is 
always  useful  to  be  as  incredulous  as  possible,  particularly 
against  oneself,  and  to  have  before  our  eyes  critics  who  will 
not  yield  one  inch  beyond  what  they  are  forced  to  yield  by 
the  strongest  pressure  of  facts. 

The  age  of  our  MSS.  of  the  canonical  books,  either  in 
Pdli  or  Sanskrit,  is  of  no  help  to  us.  All  Indian  MSS.  are 
comparatively  modern,  and  one  who  has  probably  handled 
more  Indian  MSS.  than  anybody  else,  Mr.  A.  Burnell, 
has  lately  expressed  his  conviction  that  'no  MS.  written 
one  thousand  years  ago  is  now  existent  in  India,  and  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  find  one  written  five  hundred 
years  ago,  for  most  MSS.  which  claim  to  be  of  that  date 
are  merely  copies  of  old  MSS.  the  dates  of  which  are 
repeated  by  the  copyists  ^.' 

Nor  is  the  language,  whether  Sanskrit  or  Pali,  a  safe 
guide  for  fixing  dates.  Both  languages  continue  to  be 
written  to  our  own  time,  and  though  there  are  some 
characteristic  marks  to  distinguish  more  modern  from  more 
ancient  Buddhist  Sanskrit  and  Pali,  this  branch  of  critical 
scholarship  requires  to  be  cultivated  far  more  extensively 
and  accurately  before  true  scholars  would  venture  to  fix  the 
date  of  a  Sanskrit  or  Pali  text  on  the  strength  of  linguistic 
evidence  alone  ^. 


1  Indian  Antiquary,  1880,  p.  233.  _ 

«  See  some  important  remarks  on  this  subject  in  Fausboll's  Introduction  to 
Sutta-nipata,  p.  xi. 


XU  DHAMMAPADA. 


The  Buddhists  themselves  have  no  difficulty  in  assigning 
a  date  to  their  sacred  canon.  They  are  told  in  that  canon 
itself  that  it  was  settled  at  the  First  Council,  or  immediately 
after  the  death  of  Buddha,  and  they  believe  that  it  was 
afterwards  handed  down  by  means  of  oral  tradition,  or 
actually  written  down  in  books  by  order  of  Kaj-yapa,  the 
president  of  the  First  Council  ^  Buddhaghosa,  a  learned 
and  in  some  respects  a  critical  scholar,  living  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fifth  century  A.D.,  asserts  that  the  canon 
which  he  had  before  him,  was  the  same  as  that  fixed  by 
the  First  Council  ^. 

Several  European  students  have  adopted  the  same 
opinion,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  argument  has  yet  been 
advanced  showing  the  impossibility  of  the  native  view, 
that  some  collection  of  Buddha's  doctrines  was  made  im- 
mediately after  his  death  at  Ra^agaha,  and  that  it  was 
finally  settled  at  what  is  called  the  Second  Council,  or  the 
Council  of  Vesali.  But  what  is  not  impossible  is  not  there- 
fore true,  nor  can  anything  be  gained  by  appealing  to  later 
witnesses,  such  as,  for  instance,  Hiouen  Thsang,  who  tra- 
velled through  India  in  the  seventh  century,  and  wrote 
down  anything  that  he  could  learn,  little  concerned  whether 
one  statement  tallied  with  the  other  or  not  ^.  He  says  that 
the  Tipi/aka  was  written  down  on  palm  leaves  by  Kaj-yapa 
at  the  end  of  the  First  Council.  But  what  can  be  the  weight 
of  such  a  witness,  living  more  than  a  thousand  years  after 
the  event,  compared  with  that,  for  instance,  of  the  Maha- 
vawsa,  which  dates  from  the  fifth  century  of  our  era,  and 

^  Bigandet,  Life  of  Gaudama  (Rangoon,  1866),  p.  350  ;  but  also  p.  120  note. 

*  See  Childers,  s.  v.  Tipi/aka.  There  is  a  curious  passage  in  Buddhaghosa's 
account  of  the  P'irst  Council.  '  Now  one  may  ask,'  he  says, '  Is  there  or  is  there 
not  in  this  first  Parag-ika  anything  to  be  taken  away  or  added  ? '  I  reply, There 
is  nothing  in  the  words  of  the  Blessed  Buddha  that  can  be  taken  away,  for  the 
Buddhas  speak  not  even  a  single  syllable  in  vain,  yet  in  the  words  of  disciples 
and  devatas  there  are  things  which  may  be  omitted,  and  these  the  elders  who 
made  the  recension,  did  omit.  On  the  other  hand,  additions  are  everywhere 
necessary,  and  accordingly,  whenever  it  was  necessary  to  add  anything,  they 
added  it.  If  it  be  asked.  What  are  the  additions  referred  to  ?  I  reply.  Only 
sentences  necessary  to  connect  the  text,  as  '  at  that  time,'  '  again  at  that  time,' 
'  and  so  forth.' 

^  Pelerins  Bouddhistes,  vol.  i.  p.  15S. 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 


tells  us  in  the  account  of  Mahinda's  missionary  journey 
to  Ceylon  (241/318),  that  the  son  of  Asoka  had  to  spend 
three  years  in  learning  the  Tipi/'aka  by  heart  from  the 
mouth  of  a  teacher  ^  ?  No  mention  is  then  made  of  any 
books  or  MSS.,  when  it  would  have  been  most  natural  to 
do  so  2.  At  a  later  time,  during  the  reign  of  King  Va//aga- 
mani^  (88-76  B.C.),  the  same  chronicle,  the  Mahava;;zsa,  tells 
us  that  '  the  profoundly  wise  priests  had  theretofore  orally 
(mukhapa//^ena)  perpetuated  the  Pali  of  the  Pi/akattaya 
and  its  A^*///akatha  (commentary),  but  that  at  this  period  the 
priests,  foreseeing  the  perdition  of  the  people  assembled, 
and  in  order  that  the  religion  might  endure  for  ages,  re- 
corded the  same  in  books  (potthakesu  likhapayuw)''.' 

No  one  has  yet  questioned  the  dates  of  the  Dipava;;^sa, 
about  400  A.D.,  or  of  the  first  part  of  the  Mah^vamsa., 
between  459-477  a.  d.,  and  though  no  doubt  there  is  an 
interval  of  nearly  600  years  between  the  composition  of 
the  Mahavawsa  and  the  recorded  writing  down  of  the 
Buddhist  canon  under  Va//agamani,  yet  we  must  remember 
that  the  Ceylonese  chronicles  were  confessedly  founded  on 
an  older  A/^//akatha  preserved  in  the  monasteries  of  the 
island,  and  representing  an  unbroken  line  of  local  tradition. 

My  own  argument  therefore,  so  long  as  the  question  was 
only  whether  we  could  assign  a  pre-Christian  date  to  the 
Pali  Buddhist  canon,  has  always  been  this.  We  have 
the  commentaries  on  the  Pali  canon  translated  from  Sin- 
halese into  Pali,  or  actually  composed,  it  may  be,  by 
Buddhaghosa.    Buddhaghosa  confessedly  consulted  various 

»  Mahava7wsa,  p.  37 ;  DipavawsaVII,  28-31 ;  Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  p.xviii. 

^  Bigandet,  Life  of  Gaudama,  p.  351. 

s  Dr.  E.  Muller  (Indian  Antiquary,  Nov.  1880,  p.  270)  has  discovered  inscrip- 
tions in  Ceylon,  belonging  to  Devanapiya  Maharaja  Gami;ii  Tissa,  whom  he 
identifies  with  Va^^agamani. 

*  The  same  account  is  given  in  the  Dipavawzsa  XX,  20,  and  in  the  Sara- 
sangraha,  as  quoted  by  Spence  Hardy,  Legends,  p.  192.  As  throwing  light 
on  the  completeness  of  the  Buddhist  canon  at  the  time  of  King  Va//agamani. 
it  should  be  mentioned  that,  according  to  the  commentary  on  theMabavamsa 
(Tumour,  p.  liii),  the  sect  of  the  Dhammaru^ikas  established  itself  at  the 
Abhayavihara,  which  had  been  constructed  by  Va^/agamani,  and  that  one  of 
the  grounds  of  their  secession  was  their  refusing  to  acknowledge  the  Panvara 
(thus  I  read  instead  of  Pariwana)  as  part  of  the  Vinaya-pi/aka.  Accordmg  to 
the  Dipava7Ksa  (VII,  42)  Mahinda  knew  the  Parivara. 


XIV  DHAMMAPADA. 


MSS.,  and  gives  various  readings,  just  as  any  modern 
scholar  might  do.  This  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century  A.U.,  and  there  is  nothing  improbable,  though  I 
would  say  no  more,  in  supposing  that  some  of  the  MSS., 
consulted  by  Buddhaghosa,  dated  from  the  first  century 
B.C.,  when  Va//agamani  ordered  the  sacred  canon  to  be 
reduced  to  writing. 

There  is  one  other  event  with  reference  to  the  existence 
of  the  sacred  canon  in  Ceylon,  recorded  in  the  Mahava;;«sa, 
between  the  time  of  Buddhaghosa  and  Va//agamani,  viz. 
the  translation  of  the  Suttas  from  Pali  into  the  language  of 
Ceylon,  during  the  reign  of  Buddhadasa,  339-368  A.  D. 
If  MSS.  of  that  ancient  translation  still  existed,  they  would, 
no  doubt,  be  very  useful  for  determining  the  exact  state 
of  the  Pali  originals  at  that  time  ^.  But  even  without  them 
there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Buddhaghosa  had 
before  him  old  MSS.  of  the  Pali  canon,  and  that  these 
were  in  the  main  the  same  as  those  written  down  at  the 
time  of  Va//agamani. 

Buddhaghosa's  Age. 
The  whole  of  this  argument,  however,  rested  on  the 
supposition  that  Buddhaghosa's  date  in  the  beginning  of 
the  fifth  century  a.  d.  was  beyond  the  reach  of  reasonable 
doubt.  '  His  age,'  I  had  ventured  to  say  in  the  Preface 
to  Buddhaghosha's  Parables  (1870),  'can  be  fixed  with 
greater  accuracy  than  most  dates  in  the  literary  history 
of  India.'  But  soon  after,  one  of  our  most  celebrated  Pali 
scholars,  the  great  Russian  traveller.  Professor  Joh.  Minayefif, 
expressed  in  the  Melanges  Asiatiques  (13/25  April,  1871) 
the  gravest  doubts  as  to  Buddhaghosa's  age,  and  thus 
threw  the  whole  Buddhist  chronology,  so  far  as  it  had 
then  been  accepted  by  all,  or  nearly  all  scholars,  back  into 
chaos.  He  gave  as  his  chief  reason  that  Buddhaghosa  was 
not,  as  I  supposed,  the  contemporary  of  Mahanama,  the 

^  A  note  is  added,  stating  that  several  portions  of  the  other  two  divi- 
sions also  of  the  Pi/akattaya  were  translated  into  the  Sinhalese  language,  and 
that  these  alone  are  consulted  by  the  priests,  who  are  unacquainted  with  Pali, 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  stated  that  the  Sinhalese  text  of  the  A^Aakatha  exists 
no  longer.     See  Spence  Hardy,  Legends,  p.  xxv,  and  p.  69. 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 


author  of  the  Mahava;«sa,  but  of  another  Mahanama,  the 
king  of  Ceylon. 

Professor  MinayefF  is  undoubtedly  right  in  this,  but  I  am 
not  aware  that  I,  or  anybody  else,  had  ever  questioned  so 
palpable  a  fact.  There  are  two  Mahanamas  ;  one,  the  king 
who  reigned  from  410-433  A.  D.;  the  other,  the  supposed 
author  of  the  Mahavawsa,  the  uncle  and  protector  of  King 
Dhatusena,  459-477.  '  Dhatusena,'  I  had  written,  '  was  the 
nephew  of  the  historian  Mahanama,  and  owed  the  throne 
to  the  protection  of  his  uncle.  Dhatusena  was  in  fact  the 
restorer  of  a  national  dynasty,  and  after  having  defeated 
the  foreign  usurpers  (the  Damilo  dynasty)  "  he  restored  the 
religion  which  had  been  set  aside  by  the  foreigners'"  (Mahav. 
p.  356).  Among  his  many  pious  acts  it  is  particularly 
mentioned  that  he  gave  a  thousand,  and  ordered  the  Dipa- 
va;«sa  to  be  promulgated.  As  Mahanama  was  the  uncle 
of  Dhatusena,  who  reigned  from  459-477,  he  may  be  con- 
sidered as  a  trustworthy  witness  with  regard  to  events  that 
occurred  between  410  and  432.  Now  the  literary  activity  of 
Buddhaghosa  in  Ceylon  falls  in  that  period  \' 

These  facts  being  admitted,  it  is  surely  not  too  great 
a  stretch  of  probability  to  suppose,  as  I  did,  that  a  man 
whose  nephew  was  king  in  459-477,  might  have  been 
alive  in  410-433,  that  is  to  say,  might  have  been  a  con- 
temporary of  Buddhaghosa.  I  did  not  commit  myself  to 
any  further  theories.  The  question  whether  Mahanama, 
the  uncle  of  Dhatusena,  was  really  the  author  of  the  Maha- 
va;;^sa,  the  question  whether  he  wrote  the  second  half  of 
the  37th  chapter  of  that  work,  or  broke  off  his  chronicle  in 
the  middle  of  that  chapter,  I  did  not  discuss,  having  no 
new  materials  to  bring  forward  beyond  those  on  which 
Tumour  and  those  who  followed  him  had  founded  their 
conclusions,  and  which  I  had  discussed  in  my  History  of 
Sanskrit  Literature  (1859),  p.  2,6y.  All  I  said  was,  '  It  is 
difficult  to  determine  whether  the  38th  as  well  as  the  (whole 
of  the)  37th  chapter  came  from  the  pen  of  Mahanama,  for 


1  '  Ungefahr  50  Jahre  alter  als  Mahanama  ist  Buddhaghosha,'  see  Wester* 
gaard,  tjber  Buddha's  Todesjahr,  p.  99. 


XVI  DHAMMAPADA. 


the  Mahavawsa  was  afterwards  continued  by  different 
writers,  even  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  But, 
taking  into  account  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  it  is 
most  probable  that  Mahanama  carried  on  the  history  to 
his  own  time,  to  the  death  of  Dhatusena,  477  A.D.' 

What  I  meant  by  'all  the  circumstances  of  the  case' 
might  easily  be  understood  by  any  one  who  had  read  Tur- 
nour's  Preface  to  the  Mahava;«sa.  Turnour  himself  thought 
at  first  that  Mahinama's  share  in  the  Mahavaw^sa  ended 
with  the  year  301  A.D.,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  work,  called 
the  Sulu  Wans6,  was  composed  by  subsequent  writers  ^ 
Dharmakirti  is  mentioned  by  name  as  having  continued 
the  work  to  the  reign  of  Prakrama  Bahu  (a.d.  1266).  But 
Turnour  afterwards  changed  his  mind  ^.  Considering  that 
the  account  of  Mahasena's  reign,  the  first  of  the  Seven 
Kings,  terminates  in  the  middle  of  a  chapter,  at  verse  48, 
while  the  whole  chapter  is  called  the  Sattara^iko,  '  the 
chapter  of  the  Seven  Kings,'  he  naturally  supposed  that 
the  whole  of  that  chapter,  extending  to  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  his  nephew  Dhatusena,  might  be  the  work  of  Mahanama, 
unless  there  were  any  strong  proofs  to  the  contrary.  Such 
proofs,  beyond  the  tradition  of  writers  of  the  MSS.,  have 
not,  as  yet,  been  adduced  ^. 

But  even  if  it  could  be  proved  that  Mahinama's  own  pen 
did  not  go  beyond  the  48th  verse  of  the  37th  chapter,  the 
historical  trustworthiness  of  the  concluding  portion  of  that 
chapter,  containing  the  account  of  Buddhaghosa's  literary 
activity,  nay,  even  of  the  38th  chapter,  would  be  little 
affected  thereby.  We  know  that  both  the  Mahava;«sa 
and  the  somewhat  earlier  Dipava;;/sa  were  founded  on  the 
Sinhalese  A///zakathis,  the  commentaries  and  chronicles 
preserved  in  the  Mahivihara  at  Anuradhapura.  We  also 
know  that  that  Vihara  was  demolished  by  Mahasena,  and 
deserted  by  nearly  all  its  inmates  for  the  space  of  nine 
years  (p.  235),  and  again  for  the  space  of  nine   months 

*  Introduction,  p.  ii.  The  ^ulavawzsa  is  mentioned  with  the  Mahavawsa,  both 
as  the  works  of  Mahanama,  by  Professor  Forchhammer  in  his  List  of  Pali  MSS. 

*  Introduction,  p.  xci. 

'  See  Rhys  Davids,  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1875,  p.  196. 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 


(p.  237).  We  can  well  understand  therefore  why  the  older 
history,  the  Dipavawsa,  should  end  with  the  death  of  Maha- 
sena  (died  302  A.D.),  and  why  in  the  Mahavamsa  too  there 
should  have  been  a  break  at  that  date.  But  we  must  not 
forget  that,  during  Mahanama's  life,  the  Mahavihara  at 
Anuradhapura  was  restored,  that  some  kind  of  chronicle, 
called  the  Dipavawsa,  whether  it  be  a  general  name  of  any 
'  chronicle  of  the  island,'  or  of  our  Dipavawsa,  or,  it  may  be, 
even  of  our  Mahava;«sa,  was  ordered  to  be  published  or  pro- 
mulgated (dipetum)  under  Dhatusena,  the  nephew  and  protege 
of  Mahanama.  Therefore,  even  if  we  do  not  insist  on  the 
personal  authorship  of  Mahanama,  we  may  certainly  main- 
tain that  historical  entries  had  been  made  in  the  chronicles 
of  Anuradhapura  during  Dhatusena's  reign,  and  probably 
under  the  personal  auspices  of  Mahanama,  so  that  if  we 
find  afterwards,  in  the  second  half  of  the  37th  chapter  of 
his  Mahavawsa,  an  account  of  events  which  had  happened 
between  the  destruction  of  the  Mahavihara  and  the  reign 
of  Dhatusena,  and  among  them  an  account  of  so  important 
an  event  as  the  arrival  of  Buddhaghosa  from  Magadha  and 
his  translation  of  the  Sinhalese  A////akatha  into  the  lan- 
guage of  Magadha,  we  may  well  suppose  that  they  rest 
on  the  authority  of  native  chronicles,  written  not  long  after 
the  events,  and  that  therefore,  '  under  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,'  the  age  of  Buddhaghosa  can  be  fixed  with 
greater  accuracy  than  most  dates  in  the  literary  history 
of  India. 

There  is  one  difficulty  still  remaining  with  regard  to  the 
date  of  the  historian  Mahanama  which  might  have  per- 
plexed Tumour's  mind,  and  has  certainly  proved  a  stumbling- 
block  to  myself.  Tumour  thought  that  the  author  of  the 
commentary  on  the  Mahavawsa,  the  Vawsatthappakasini, 
was  the  same  as  the  author  of  the  Mahavawsa,  viz.  Maha- 
nama. The  date  of  that  commentary,  however,  as  we  know 
now,  must  be  fixed  much  later,  for  it  .speaks  of  a  schism 
which  took  place  in  the  year  601  A.  D.,  during  the  rcign 
of  Agrabodhi  (also  called  Dhatapatisso).     Tumour^  looked 


»  Introduction,  p.  liii. 

[10]  b 


XVlll  DHAMMAPADA. 


upon  that  passage  as  a  later  interpolation,  because  he 
thought  the  evidence  for  the  identity  of  the  author  and 
the  commentator  of  the  Mahavawsa  too  strong  to  be  set 
aside.  He  trusted  chiefly  to  a  passage  in  the  commentary, 
and  if  that  passage  had  been  correctly  rendered,  the  con- 
clusion which  he  drew  from  it  could  hardly  be  resisted. 
We  read  in  the  Mahavawsa  (p.  254) : 

'  Certain  members  of  the  Moriyan  dynasty,  dreading  the 
power  of  the  (usurper)  Subho,  the  balattho,  had  settled  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  concealing  themselves.  Among 
them  there  was  a  certain  landed  proprietor  Dhatusena,  who 
had  established  himself  at  Nandivapi.  His  son  named 
Dhita,  who  lived  at  the  village  Ambiliyago,  had  two  sons, 
Dhatusena  and  Silatissabodhi,  of  unexceptional  descent. 
Their  mother's  brother(Mahanama),  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  continued  to  reside  (at  Anura- 
dhapura)  in  his  sacerdotal  character,  at  the  edifice 
built  by  the  minister  Dighasandana.  The  youth 
Dhatusena  became  a  priest  in  his  fraternity,  and  on  a  certain 
day,  while  he  was  chaunting  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  a  shower 
of  rain  fell,  and  a  Naga,  seeing  him  there,  encircled  him  in 
his  folds,  and  covered  him  and  his  book  with  his  hood.  .  .  . 
Causing  an  image  of  Maha  Mahinda  to  be  made,  and  con- 
veying it  to  the  edifice  (Ambamalaka)  in  which  the  thera's 
body  had  been  burnt,  in  order  that  he  might  celebrate 
a  great  festival  there,  and  that  he  might  also  promul- 
gate the  contents  of  the  Dipavawsa,  distributing 
a  thousand  pieces,  he  caused  it  to  be  read  aloud  ^.' 

If  we  compare  with  this  extract  from  the  Mahava;;/sa 
a  passage  from  the  commentary  as  translated  by  Turnour, 
we  can  well  understand  how  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  written  by  the  same  person  who  wrote  the 
Mahavaw^sa. 

Turnour  translates  (p.  liv) : 

'  Upon  these  data  by  me,  the  thera,  who  had,  with  due 

*  Mr.  Turnour  added  a  note  in  which  he  states  that  Dipavawsa  is  here  meant 
for  Mahavarasa,  but  whether  brought  down  to  this  period,  or  only  to  the  end  of 
the  reign  of  Mahasena,  to  which  alone  the  T'ika  extends,  there  is  no  means  of 
ascertaining  (p.  257). 


INTRODUCTION.  xix 


solemnity,  been  invested  with  the  dignified  title  of  Maha- 
nama,  resident  at  the  parive/^a  founded  by  the 
minister  Dighasandana,  endowed  with  the  capacity 
requisite  to  record  the  narrative  comprised  in  the  Maha- 
va/«sa,  in  due  order,  rejecting  only  the  dialect  in  which 
the  Singhalese  A////akatha  are  written,  but  retaining  their 
import  and  following  their  arrangement,  the  history,  entitled 
the  Palapad6ruva;;/sa  (Padyapadanuva7;/sa),  is  compiled. 
As  even  in  times  when  the  despotism  of  the  ruler  of  the 
land,  and  the  horrors  arising  from  the  inclemencies  of  the 
seasons,  and  when  panics  of  epidemics  and  other  visitations 
prevailed,  this  work  escaped  all  injury;  and  moreover,  as 
it  serves  to  perpetuate  the  fame  of  the  Buddhas,  their 
disciples,  and  the  Pache  Buddhas  of  old,  it  is  also  worthy 
of  bearing  the  title  of  Vawsatthappakasini.' 

As  the  evidence  of  these  two  passages  in  support  of  the 
identity  of  the  author  and  the  commentator  of  the  Maha- 
va;//sa  seemed  to  me  very  startling,  I  requested  Mr.  Rhys 
Davids  to  copy  for  me  the  passage  of  the  commentary. 

The  passage  runs  as  follows  : 

Ya  ettavata  mahavaw/satthanusarakusalena  Dighasanda- 
senapatina  karapita-mahaparive/^avasina  Mahanamo  ti  ga- 
ruhi  gahitanamadheyyena  therez/a  pubba-Sihala-bhasitaya 
Sihala///^akathaya  bhasantara;«  eva  va^iya  atthasaram 
eva  gahetva  tantinayanurupena  katassa  imassa  Padyapada- 
nuva;;^sassa  atthava/zwana  maya  tam  eva  sannissitena 
araddha,  padesissariya-  dubbu///^ibhaya  -  rogabhayadi  -  vivi- 
dha-antaraya-yuttakale  pi  anantarayena  ni^///anam  upagata, 
sa  buddha-buddhasavaka-pa/^/^ekabuddhadina;«  porawana;;/ 
k\kka.i;i  pubbavawsatthappakasanato  aysnu  Vawsatthappa- 
kasini  nama  ti  dharetabba.  .  .  .  Padyapadanuva;«sa- 
vawwana  Vawsatthappakasini  ni////ita. 

Mr.  Rhys  Davids  translates  this  : 

'  The  commentary  on  this  Padyapadanuvawja,  which  (latter 
work)  was  made  (in  the  same  order  and  arrangement,  and  re- 
taining the  sense,  but  rejecting  the  dialect,  of  the  Sinhalese 
commentary  formerly  expressed  in  the  Sinhalese  tongue) 
by  the  elder  who  bore  the  name  of  Mahanama,  which  he  had 

b   2 


XX  DHAMMAPADA. 


received  from  the  venerable,  who  resided  at  the  Mahapari- 
veua  built  by  the  minister  Dighasanda,  and  who  was  well 
able  to  conform  to  the  sense  of  the  Mahavawsa — (this  com- 
mentary) which  was  undertaken  by  me  out  of  devotion  to 
that  (history),  and  which  (though  thus  undertaken)  at  a  time 
full  of  danger  of  various  kinds — such  as  the  danger  from 
disease,  and  the  danger  from  drought,  and  the  danger 
from  the  government  of  the  province — has  been  safely 
brought  to  a  conclusion — this  (commentary),  since  it  makes 
known  the  meaning  of  the  history  of  old,  the  mission  of 
the  ancients,  of  the  Buddhas,  of  their  disciples,  and  of  the 
Pa^X'eka  Buddhas,  should  bear  the  name  Va#/satthappa- 
kasini.  .  .  . 
'  End  of  the  Va;//satthappakasini,  the  commentary  on 
the  Padyapadanuvawsa.' 

This  shows  clearly  that  Turnour  made  a  mistake  in  trans- 
lating this  exceedingly  involved,  yet  perfectly  intelligible, 
passage,  and  that  so  far  from  proving  that  the  author  of 
the  commentary  was  the  same  person  as  the  author  of  the 
text^,  it  proves  the  very  contrary.  Nay,  I  feel  bound  to 
add,  that  we  might  now  argue  that  as  the  commentator 
must  have  lived  later  than  60 1  a.  D.,  the  fact  that  he  too 
breaks  oft"  at  verse  48  of  chapter  ^y,  seems  to  show  that  at 
his  time  also  the  Mahavawsa  did  not  extend  as  yet  beyond 
that  verse.  But  even  then,  the  fact  that  with  the  restoration 
of  the  Mahavihara  of  Anuradhapuraan  interest  in  historical 
studies  revived  in  Ceylon,  would  clearly  show  that  we  may 
trust  the  date  of  Buddhaghosa,  as  fixed  by  the  second  part 
of  the  37th  chapter  of  the  Mahavawsa,  at  all  events  till 
stronger  evidence  is  brought  forward  against  such  a  date. 

Now  I  am  not  aware  of  any  such  evidence  ^,  On  the 
contrary,  making  allowance  for  a  difference  of  some  ten  or 
twenty  years,  all  the  evidence  which  we  can  gain  from 
other   quarters    tends   to    confirm    the   date    of    Buddha- 

'  Dr.  Oldenberg  informs  me  that  the  commentator  quotes  various  readings 
in  the  text  of  the  Mahavamsa. 

"  The  passage,  quoted  by  Professor  Minayeff  from  the  Sasanava.'^sa,  would 
assign  to  Buddhaghosa  the  date  of  930—543  =  387  a. d.,  which  can  easily  be 
reconciled  with  his  accepted  date.  If  he  is  called  the  contemporary  of  Siripala, 
we  ought  to  know  who  that  Siripala  is. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxi 


ghosa^  I  therefore  feel  no  hesitation  in  here  reprintinc,^ 
that  story,  as  we  find  it  in  the  Mahavawsa,  not  free  from 
legendary  ingredients,  it  is  true,  yet  resting,  I  believe,  on 
a  sound  foundation  of  historical  fact. 

'  A  Brahman  youth,  born  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
terrace  of  the  great  Bo-tree  (in  Magadha),  accomplished  in 
the  "vi^^a"  (knowledge)  and  "sippa"  (art),  who  had  achieved 
the  knowledge  of  the  three  Vedas,  and  possessed  great 
aptitude  in  attaining  acquirements ;  indefatigable  as  a 
schismatic  disputant,  and  himself  a  schismatic  wanderer 
over  6"ambudipa,  established  himself,  in  the  character  of 
a  disputant,  in  a  certain  vihara  2,  and  was  in  the  habit  of 
rehearsing,  by  night  and  by  day  with  clasped  hands,  a 
discourse  which  he  had  learned,  perfect  in  all  its  com- 
ponent parts,  and  sustained  throughout  in  the  same  lofty 
strain.  A  certain  Mahathera,  Revata,  becoming  acquainted 
with  him  there,  and  (saying  to  himself),  "This  individual  is 
a  person  of  profound  knowledge,  it  will  be  worthy  (of  me) 
to  convert  him  ; "  enquired,  "  Who  is  this  who  is  braying 
like  an  ass.^"  The  Brahman  replied  to  him,  "Thou  canst 
define,  then,  the  meaning  conveyed  in  the  bray  of  asses." 
On  the  Thera  rejoining,  "  I  can  define  it ;  "  he  (the  Brah- 
man) exhibited  the  extent  of  the  knowledge  he  possessed. 
The  Thera  criticised  each  of  his  propositions,  and  pointed 
out  in  what  respect  they  were  fallacious.  He  who  had 
been  thus  refuted,  said,  "  Well,  then,  descend  to  thy  own 
creed  ; "  and  he  propounded  to  him  a  passage  from  the 
Abhidhamma  (of  the  Pi/akattaya).  He  (the  Brahman) 
could  not  divine  the  signification  of  that  passage,  and 
enquired, "Whose  manta  is  this.?" — "It  is  Buddha's  manta." 
On  his  exclaiming,  "  Impart  it  to  me  ; "  the  Thera  replied, 
"Enter  the  sacerdotal  order."  He  who  was  desirous  of 
acquiring  the  knowledge  of  the  Pi/akattaya,  subsequently 
coming  to  this  conviction,  "  This  is  the  sole  road  "  (to  sal- 
vation), became  a  convert  to  that  faith.  As  he  was  as 
profound  in  his  eloquence  (ghosa)  as  Buddha  himself,  they 
conferred   on    him   the   appellation   of  Budjhaghosa  (the 

1  See  Bigandet,  Life  of  Gaudama,  pp.  351,  .^8i. 

^  On  this  vihara,  its  foundation  and  character,  see  OldeubL-rg,  Viiaya,  vol.  i. 
p.  liii ;  Hiouen-thsang,  III,  p.  487  seq. 


XXll  DHAMMAPADA. 


voice  of  Buddha) ;  and  throughout  the  world  he  became  as 
renowned  as  Buddha.  Having  there  (in  6^ambudipa)  com- 
posed an  original  work  called  iVanodaya  (Rise  of  Know- 
ledge), he,  at  the  same  time,  wrote  the  chapter  called 
A///^asalini,  on  the  Dhammasahgani  (one  of  the  commen- 
taries on  the  Abhidhamma). 

'  Revata  Thera  then  observing  that  he  was  desirous  of 
undertaking  the  compilation  of  a  general  commentary 
on  the  Pi/akattaya,  thus  addressed  him :  "  The  text 
alone  of  the  Pi/akattaya  has  been  preserved  in  this  land, 
the  A////akatha  are  not  extant  here,  nor  is  there  any 
version  to  be  found  of  the  schisms  (vada)  complete.  The 
Sinhalese  A///^akatha  are  genuine.  They  were  com- 
posed in  the  Sinhalese  language  by  the  inspired  and  pro- 
foundly wise  Mahinda,  who  had  previously  consulted  the 
discourses  (kathamagga)  of  Buddha,  authenticated  at  the 
three  convocations,  and  the  dissertations  and  arguments  of 
Sariputta  and  others,  and  they  are  extant  among  the  Sin- 
halese. Preparing  for  this,  and  studying  the  same,  translate 
them  according  to  the  rules  of  the  grammar  of  the  Maga- 
dhas.  It  will  be  an  act  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  world." 

'Having  been  thus  advised,  this  eminently  wise  personage 
rejoicing  therein,  departed  from  thence,  and  visited  this 
island  in  the  reign  of  this  monarch  (i.e.  Mahanama,  410- 
432).  On  reaching  the  Mahavihara  (at  Anuradhapura),  he 
entered  the  Mahapadhana  hall,  the  most  splendid  of  the 
apartments  in  the  vihara,  and  listened  to  the  Sinhalese 
A/Z/^akatha,  and  the  Theravada,  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end,  propounded  by  the  Thera  Sahghapala  ;  and  became 
thoroughly  convinced  that  they  conveyed  the  true  meaning 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  Lord  of  Dhamma.  Thereupon 
paying  reverential  respect  to  the  priesthood,  he  thus  peti- 
tioned :  "  I  am  desirous  of  translating  the  A////akatha ; 
give  me  access  to  all  your  books."  The  priesthood,  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  his  qualifications,  gave  only  two  gathas, 
saying,  "  Hence  prove  thy  qualification ;  having  satisfied 
ourselves  on  this  point,  we  will  then  let  thee  have  all  our 
books.'"     From  these  (taking  these  gatha  for  his  text),  and 


INTRODUCTION.  xxlil 


consulting  the  Pi/akattaya,  together  with  the  A////akatha, 
and  condensing  them  into  an  abridged  form,  he  composed 
the  work  called  the  Visuddhimagga.  Thereupon,  having 
assembled  the  priesthood,  who  had  acquired  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  doctrines  of  Buddha,  at  the  Bo-tree,  he 
commenced  to  read  out  the  work  he  had  composed.  The 
devatas,  in  order  that  they  might  make  his  (Buddhaghosa's) 
gifts  of  wisdom  celebrated  among  men,  rendered  that  book 
invisible.  He,  however,  for  a  second  and  third  time  re- 
composed  it.  When  he  was  in  the  act  of  producing  his 
book  for  the  third  time,  for  the  purpose  of  propounding  it, 
the  devatas  restored  the  other  two  copies  also.  The  assem- 
bled priests  then  read  out  the  three  books  simultaneously. 
In  those  three  versions  there  was  no  variation  whatever 
from  the  orthodox  Theravadas  in  passages,  in  words,  or  in 
syllables.  Thereupon,  the  priesthood  rejoicing,  again  and 
again  fervently  shouted  forth,  saying,  "  Most  assuredly 
this  is  Metteya  (Buddha)  himself,"  and  made  over  to  him 
the  books  in  which  the  Pi/akattaya  were  recorded,  together 
with  the  A///^akatha.  Taking  up  his  residence  in  the 
secluded  Ganthakara-vihara  (at  Anuradhapura),  he  trans- 
lated, according  to  the  grammatical  rules  of  the  Maga- 
dhas,  which  is  the  root  of  all  languages,  the  whole  of  the 
Sinhalese  A////akatha  (into  Pali),  This  proved  an  achieve- 
ment of  the  utmost  consequence  to  all  beings,  whatever 
their  language. 

'All  the  Theras  and  A/^ariyas  held  this  compilation  in 
the  same  estimation  as  the  text  (of  the  Pi/akattaya).  There- 
after, the  objects  of  his  mission  having  been  fulfilled,  he 
returned  to  6^ambudipa,  to  worship  at  the  Bo-tree  (at  Uru- 
velaya,  or  Uruvilva,  in  Magadha).' 

Here  ^  we  have  a  simple  account  of  Buddhaghosa  ^  and 


•  Mahavawsa,  p.  250,  translated  by  Tumour. 

2  The  Burmese  entertain  the  highest  respect  for  Buddhaghosa.  Bishop 
Bigandet,  in  his  Life  or  Legend  of  Gaudama  (Rangoon,  1S66),  writes:  'It  is 
perhaps  as  well  to  mention  here  an  epoch  which  has  been,  at  all  times,  famous 
in  the  history  of  Budhism  in  Burma.  I  allude  to  the  voyage  which  a  Religious 
of  Thaton,  named  Budhagosa,  made  to  Ceylon,  in  the  year  of  religion  943  =  400 
A  D  The  object  of  this  voyage  was  to  procure  a  copy  of  the  scriptures.  He 
succeeded  in  his  undertaking.    He  made  use  of  the  Burmese,  or  rather  Talaing 


XXIV  DPIAMMAPADA. 


his  literary  labours  written  by  a  man,  himself  a  priest, 
and  who  may  well  have  known  Buddhaghosa  during  his 
stay  in  Ceylon.  It  is  true  that  the  statement  of  his  writing 
the  same  book  three  times  over  without  a  single  various 
reading,  partakes  a  little  of  the  miraculous  ;  but  we  find 
similar  legends  mixed  up  with  accounts  of  translations 
of  other  sacred  books,  and  we  cannot  contend  that  writers 
who  believed  in  such  legends  are  therefore  altogether 
unworthy  to  be  believed  as  historical  witnesses. 

But  although  the  date  which  we  can  assign  to  Buddha- 
ghosa's  translation  of  the  commentaries  on  the  Pali  Tipi- 
/aka  proves  the  existence  of  that  canon,  not  only  for  the 
beginning  of  the  fifth  century  of  our  era,  but  likewise,  though 
it  may  be,  with  less  stringency,  for  the  first  century  before 
our  era,  the  time  of  Va//agamani,  the  question  whether  Bud- 
dhaghosa was  merely  a  compiler  and  translator  of  old  com- 
mentaries and  more  particularly  of  the  commentaries  brought 
to  Ceylon  by  Mahinda  (241  B.C.),  or  whether  he  added  any- 
thing of  his  own  ^,  requires  to  be  more  carefully  examined. 
The  Buddhists  themselves  have  no  difficulty  on  that  point. 
They  consider  the  A///zakathas  or  commentaries  as  old  as 
the  canon  itself.  To  us,  such  a  supposition  seems  impro- 
bable, yet  it  has  never  been  proved  to  be  impossible.  The 
Mahavawsa  tells  us  that  Mahinda,  the  son  of  Asoka,  who 
had  become  a  priest,  learnt  the  whole  of  the  Buddhist 
canon,  as  it  then  was,  in  three  years  (p.  SJ}^;  and  that 
at  the  end  of  the  Third  Council  he  was  despatched  to 
Ceylon,  in  order  to  establish  there  the  religion  of  Buddha 
(p.  71).  The  king  of  Ceylon,  Devanampiya  Tissa,  was 
converted,    and    Buddhism    soon    became    the    dominant 

characters,  in  transcribing  the  manuscripts,  which  were  written  with  the  cha- 
racters of  Magatha.  The  Burmans  lay  much  stress  upon  that  voyage,  and 
always  carefully  note  down  the  year  it  took  place.  In  fact,  it  is  to  Budhagosa 
that  the  people  living  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Martaban  owe  the  pos- 
ses^ion  of  the  Budhist  scriptures.  From  Thaton,  the  collection  made  by  Budha- 
gosa was  transferred  to  Pagan,  six  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  it  had  been 
imported  from  Ceylon.'     See  ibid.  p.  392. 

*  He  had  written  the  iVanodaya,  and  the  A^/Aasalini,  a  commentary  on  the 
D:inmma-sanga«i,  before  he  went  to  Ceylon.     Cf.  Mahavawsa,  p.  251. 

*  He  learnt  the  five  Nikayas,  and  the  seven  sections  (of  the  Abhidhamma) ; 
the  two  Vibhangas  of  the  Vinaya,  the  Purivara  and  the  Khandhaka.  See 
Dipavawsa  VH,  42. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 


religion  of  the  island.  The  Tipi/'aka  and  the  A////akatha, 
such  as  they  had  been  collected  or  settled  at  the  Third 
Council  in  242  B.C.,  were  brought  to  Ceylon  by  Mahinda, 
who  promulgated  them  orally,  the  Tipi/aka  in  Pali,  the 
A/Makatha  in  Sinhalese,  together  with  an  additional 
A///^akatha  of  his  own.  It  does  not  follow  that  Mahinda 
knew  the  whole  of  that  enormous  literature  by  heart,  for,  as 
he  was  supported  by  a  number  of  priests,  they  may  well 
have  divided  the  different  sections  among  them,  following 
the  example  of  Ananda  and  Upali  at  the  First  Council. 
The  same  applies  to  their  disciples  also.  But  the  fact  of 
their  transmitting  the  sacred  literature  by  oral  tradition^  was 
evidently  quite  familiar  to  the  author  of  the  Mahava;«sa. 
For  when  he  comes  to  describe  the  reign  of  VaZ/agamani 
(88-76  B.C.)  he  simply  says  :  'The  profoundly  wise  priests 
had  heretofore  orally  perpetuated  the  Pali  Pi/akattaya  and 
its  A///^akatha  (commentaries).  At  this  period  these  priests, 
foreseeing  the  perdition  of  the  people  (from  the  perversions 
of  the  true  doctrines),  assembled ;  and  in  order  that  the  reli- 
gion might  endure  for  ages,  wrote  the  same  in  books.'  No 
valid  objection  has  yet  been  advanced  to  our  accepting 
Buddhaghosa's  A///^akathas  as  a  translation  and  new  re- 
daction of  the  A////akathas  which  were  reduced  to  writing 
under  Va//agamani  2,  and  these  again  as  a  translation  of  the 
old  A///zakathas  brought  to  Ceylon  by  Mahinda  ^  There 
is  prima  facie  evidence  in  favour  of  the  truth  of  historical 
events  vouched  for  by  such  works  as  the  Dipavawzsa  and 
the  Mahavawsa  so  far  back  at  least  as  Mahinda,  because 
we  know  that  historical  events  were  recorded  in  the 
monasteries  of  Ceylon  long  before  Mahanama's  time. 
Beyond  Mahinda  we  move  in  legendary  history,  and  must 
be  ready  to  surrender  every  name  and  every  date  as  soon 
as  rebutting  evidence  has  been  produced,  but  not  till  then. 
I  cannot,  therefore,  see  any  reason  why  we  should  not 
treat  the  verses  of  the  Dhammapada,  if  not  as  the  utter- 
ances of  Buddha,  at  least  as  what  were  believed  by  the 


1  On  the  importance  of  oral  tradition  in  the  history  of  Sanskrit  literature  see 
the  writer's  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,  1859,  pp.  49 7-5  M-   ^ 

^  Mahavamsa,  p.  207;  Dipava;«sa  XX,  20.  =>  Mahavamsa,  p.  25.. 


XXVI  DHAMMAPADA. 


members  of  the  Council  under  Ai-oka,  in  242  B.C.,  to  have 
been  the  utterances  of  the  founder  of  their  rehgion;  nor  can 
I  see  that  Professor  Minayeff  has  shaken  the  date  of  Bud- 
dhaghosa  and  the  general  credibility  of  the  Ceylonese  tradi- 
tion, that  he  was  the  translator  and  editor  of  commentaries 
which  had  existed  in  the  island  for  many  centuries, 
whether  from  the  time  of  Va//agamani  or  from  the  time 
of  Mahinda. 

Date  of  the  Buddhist  Canon. 

We  now  return  to  the  question  of  the  date  of  the  Bud- 
dhist canon,  which,  as  yet,  we  have  only  traced  back  to  the 
first  century  before  Christ,  when  it  was  reduced  to  writing  in 
Ceylon  under  King  Va//agamani.  The  question  is,  how  far 
beyond  that  date  we  may  trace  its  existence  in  a  collected 
form,  or  in  the  form  of  the  three  Pi/akas  or  baskets.  There 
may  be,  and  we  shall  see  that  there  is,  some  doubt  as  to  the 
age  of  certain  works,  now  incorporated  in  the  Tipi/aka.  We 
are  told,  for  instance,  that  some  doubt  attached  to  the  canon- 
icity  of  the  iTariya-pi/aka,  the  Apadana,  and  the  Buddha- 
va;;/sa\  and  there  is  another  book  of  the  Abhidham ma- 
pi /aka,  the  Kathavatthu,  which  was  reported  to  be  the  work 
of  Tissa  Moggaliputta,  the  president  of  the  Third  Council. 
Childers,  s.  v.,  stated  that  it  was  composed  by  the  apostle 
Moggaliputtatissa,  and  delivered  by  him  at  the  Third 
Mahasaiigiti.  The  same  scholar,  however,  withdrew  this 
opinion  on  p.  507  of  his  valuable  Dictionary,  where  he  says: 
'  It  is  a  source  of  great  regret  to  me  that  in  my  article 
on  Kathavatthuppakara;/a;;/  I  inadvertently  followed  James 
D'Alwis  in  the  stupendous  blunder  of  his  assertion  that  the 
Kathavatthu  was  added  by  Moggaliputtatissa'  at  the  Third 
Convocation.  The  Kathavatthu  is  one  of  the  Abhidhamma 
books,  mentioned  by  Buddhaghosa  as  having  been  rehearsed 
at  the  First  Convocation,  immediately  after  Gotama's  death  ; 
and  the  passage  in  Maheivawsa  upon  which  D'Alwis  rests 
his  assertion  is  as  follows,  Kathavatthuppakarara;^a;;/  para- 
vadappamaddana;/?  abhasi  Tissatthero  kd.  tasmi;«  sahgiti- 
maw^ale,  which  simply  means  '  in  that  Convocation-assem- 

1  See  Childers,  s.  v.  Nikaya. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXVll 


bly  the  Thera  Tissa  also  recited  (Buddha's)  heresy-crushing 
Kathavatthuppakara^a.' 

This  mistake,  for  I  quite  agree  with  Childers  that  it  was 
a  mistake,  becomes  however  less  stupendous  than  at  first 
sight  it  would  appear,  when  we  read  the  account  given  in 
the  Dipavawsa.  Here  the  impression  is  easily  conveyed 
that  Moggaliputta  was  the  author  of  the  Kathavatthu,  and 
that  he  recited  it  for  the  first  time  at  the  Third  Council. 
'  Wise  Moggaliputta,'  we  read  \  '  the  destroyer  of  the 
schismatic  doctrines,  firmly  established  the  Theravada,  and 
held  the  Third  Council.  Having  destroyed  the  different 
(heretical)  doctrines,  and  subdued  many  shameless  people, 
and  restored  splendour  to  the  (true)  faith,  he  proclaimed 
(pakasayi)  (the  treatise  called)  Kathavatthu.'  And  again  : 
'They  all  were  sectarians^,  opposed  to  the  Theravada;  and 
in  order  to  annihilate  them  and  to  make  his  own  doctrine 
resplendent,  the  Thera  set  forth  (desesi)  the  treatise  belong- 
ing to  the  Abhidhamma,  which  is  called  Kathavatthu^.' 

At  present,  however,  we  are  not  concerned  with  these 
smaller  questions.  We  treat  the  canon  as  a  whole,  divided 
into  three  parts,  and  containing  the  books  which  still  exist 
in  MSS.,  and  we  want  to  find  out  at  what  time  such  a 
collection  was  made.  The  following  is  a  short  abstract  of 
the  Tipi/aka,  chiefly  taken  from  Childers'  Pali  Dictionary  : 

I.  Vinaya-pi/aka. 

1.  Vibhahga  *. 

Vol.  I,    beginning   with  Para^ika,   or   sins   involving 

expulsion. 
Vol.  H,  beginning  with  Pa-i'ittiya,  or  sins  involving 

penance. 

2.  Khandhaka. 

Vol.  I,  Mahavagga,  the  large  section. 
Vol.  n,  A'ullavagga,  the  small  section. 

3.  ParivarapaZ/m,  an  appendix  and  later  resume  (25  chap- 

ters).    See  p.  xiii,  n.  4  ;  p.  xxiv,  n.  2. 

1  Dipavawsa  VII,  40.  ^  Dipavamsa  VII,  55. 

3  Dr.  Oldenberg,  in  his  Introductien  to  the  Vinaya-pi/aka,  p.  xxxii. 

*  Oldenberg,  Viaaya-pi^aka  I,  p.  xvi,  treats  it  as  an  extended  reading  of  the 

Palimokkha. 


XXVIU  DHAMMAPADA. 


II.  Sutta-pi/aka. 

1.  Digha-nikaya,  collection  of  long  suttas  (34  suttas)^. 

2.  Ma^/ama-nikaya,    collection    of    middle    suttas    (152 

suttas). 

3.  Sa;;/yutta-nikaya,  collection  of  joined  suttas. 

4.  Ariguttara-nikaya^  miscellaneous   suttas,  in    divisions 

the  length  of  which  increases  by  one. 

5.  Khuddaka-nikaya  2,  the  collection  of  short  suttas,  con- 

sisting of — 

1.  Khuddakapa//^a,  the  small  texts'*. 

2.  Dhammapada,  law  verses  (423)  ^. 

3.  Udana,  praise  (82  suttas). 

4.  Itivuttaka,  stories  referring  to  sayings  of  Buddha. 
5-  Suttanipata,  70  suttas  *". 

6.  Vimanavatthu,  stories  of  Vimanas,  celestial  palaces. 

7.  Petavatthu,  stories  of  Pretas,  departed  spirits. 

8.  Theragatha,  stanzas  of  monks. 

9.  Therigatha,  stanzas  of  nuns. 

10.  6"ataka,  former  births  (550  tales) ' . 

11.  Niddesa,  explanations  of  certain  suttas  by  Sariputta. 


^  The  Mahaparinibbana-sutta,  ed.  by  Childers,  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic 
Society,  translated  with  other  Suttas  by  Rhys  Davids  (S.  B.  E.  vol.  xi).  Sept 
Suttas  Palis,  par  Grimblot,  Paris,  1876. 

^  The  first  four  are  sometimes  called  the  Four  Nikaj-as,  the  five  together  the 
Five  Nikayas.  They  represent  the  Dharma,  as  settled  at  the  First  and  Second 
Councils,  described  in  the  ^ullavagga  (Oldenberg,  I,  p.  xi). 

•'  Sometimes  Khuddaka-nikaya  stands  for  the  whole  Vinaya  and  Abhidhamma- 
pi'aka,  with  the  fifteen  divisions  here  given  of  Khuddaka-nikaya.  In  the  com- 
mentary on  the  Brahmag-ala-sutta  it  is  said  that  the  Dighanikaya  professors 
rehearsed  the  text  of  the  Gataka,  Maha  and  KnWa  Niddesa,  Padsambhidamagt^a, 
Suttanipata.  Dhammapada,  Udana,  Itivuttaka,  Vimana,  and  Petavatthu,  Thera 
and  Theri  Gatha,  and  called  it  Khuddakagantha,  and  made  it  a  canonical  text, 
forming  part  of  the  Abhidhamma  ;  while  the  Ma^g-g'/iimanikaya  professors  assert 
that,  with  the  addition  of  the  A'ariyapi/aka,  Apadana,  and  Buddhavawsa,  the 
whole  of  this  Khuddakagantha  was  included  in  the  Suttapitaka.  See  Childers, 
s.  v.  Nikaya.    See  also  p.  x. 

*  Published  by  Childers,  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1869. 

*  Published  by  Fausboll,  1855. 

*  Thirty  translated  by  Sir  Coomara  Swamy ;  the  whole  by  Fausboll,  in  Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,  vol.  x. 

'  Published  by  Fausboll,  translated  by  Rhys  Davids. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxix 


12.  Pa^isambhidamagga,  the  road  of  discrimination,  and 

intuitive  insight. 

13.  Apadana^,  legends. 

14.  Buddhavawsa  S  story  of  twenty-four  preceding  Bud- 

dhas  and  of  Gotama. 

15.  i^ariyapi/aka\  basket  of  conduct,  Buddha's  meri- 

torious actions  ^. 

III.  Abhidhamma-pi/aka. 

1.  Dhammasangawi,  numeration  of  conditions  of  life**. 

2.  Vibhariga,  disquisitions  (18). 

3.  Kathavatthupakara//a,  book  of  subjects  for  discussion 

(1000  suttas). 
'  4.  Puggalapa;7/}atti  or  pa;/;/atti,  declaration  on  puggala, 
or  personality. 

5.  Dhatukatha,  account  of  dhatus  or  elements. 

6.  Yamaka,  pairs  (ten  divisions). 

7.  Pa^//^anapakara;/a,  book  of  causes. 

Taking  this  collection  as  a  whole  we  may  lay  it  down  as 
self-evident  that  the  canon,  in  its  collected  form,  cannot  be 
older  than  any  of  the  events  related  therein. 

There  are  two  important  facts  for  determining  the  age  of 
the  Pali  canon,  which,  as  Dr.  Oldenberg'^  has  been  the  first  to 
show,  should  take  precedence  of  all  other  arguments,  viz. 

1.  That  in  the  Tipi/aka,  as  we  now  have  it,  no  mention 
is  made  of  the  so-called  Third  Council,  which  took  place 
at  Pa/aliputta,  under  King  Asoka,  about  242  B.C. 

2.  That  in  the  Tipi/aka,  as  we  now  have  it,  the  First 
Council  of  Ra^agaha  (477  B.C.)  and  the  Second  Council 
of  Vesali  (377  B.C.)  are  both  mentioned. 

From  these  two  facts  it  may  safely  be  concluded  that  the 
Buddhist  canon,  as  handed  down  to  us,  was  finally  closed 

'  Buddhaghosa  does  not  say  whether  these  were  recited  at  the  First  Council. 

■^  Partly  translated  by  Gogerly,  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Ceylon,  1852. 

'  Cf.  Gogerly,  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Ceylon.  184*^,  p.  7- 

*  See  Oldenbei  g's  Vinaya-pi/aka,  Introduction,  p.  xxv.  The  kings  A^-atasatru 
(485-453  B.  c),  Udayin  (453-437  B.  c),  and  Mwida.  (437^429  ".  c.)  are^  all 
mentioned  in  the  Tipiifaka.  See  Oldenberg,  Zeitschrift  der  D.  M.  G.,  XXXIV, 
PP-  752,  753- 


XXX  DHAMMAPADA. 


after  the  Second  and  before,  or  possibly  at,  the  Third 
Council.  Nay,  the  fact  that  the  description  of  the  two 
Councils  stands  at  the  very  end  of  the  /v  ullavagga  may  be 
taken,  as  Dr.  Oldenberg  remarks,  as  an  indication  that  it 
was  one  of  the  latest  literary  contributions  which  obtained 
canonical  authority,  while  the  great  bulk  of  the  canon  may 
probably  claim  a  date  anterior  to  the  Second  Council. 

This  fact,  namely,  that  the  collection  of  the  canon,  as 
a  whole,  must  have  preceded  the  Second  Council  rests  on 
an  argument  which  does  great  credit  to  the  ingenuity  of 
Dr.  Oldenberg.  The  Second  Council  was  convoked  to 
consider  the  ten  deviations-  from  the  strict  discipline  of  the 
earliest  times.  That  discipline  had  been  laid  down  first  in 
the  Patimokkha  rules,  then  in  the  commentary  now  included 
in  the  Vibhahga,  lastly  in  the  Mahavagga  and  A'ullavagga. 
The  rules  as  to  what  was  allowed  or  forbidden  to  a  Bhikkhu 
were  most  minute  ^,  and  they  were  so  firmly  established 
that  no  one  could  have  ventured  either  to  take  away  or 
to  add  anything  to  them  as  they  stood  in  the  sacred 
code.  In  that  code  itself  a  distinction  is  made  between 
the  offences  which  were  from  the  first  visited  with  punish- 
ment (para^ika  and  pa/^ittiya)  and  those  misdemeanours 
and  crimes  which  were  put  down  as  punishable  at  a  later 
time  (dukka/a  and  thulla/('/&aya).  With  these  classes  the 
code  was  considered  as  closed,  and  if  any  doubt  arose  as  to 
the  criminality  of  certain  acts,  it  could  be  settled  at  once 
by  an  appeal  to  the  Vinaya-pi/aka.  Now  it  so  happens 
that,  with  one  exception,  the  ten  deviations  that  had  to  be 
considered  at  the  Second  Council,  are  not  provided  for  in 
the  Vinaya-pi/aka  ;  and  I  quite  agree  with  Dr.  Oldenberg's 
argument  that,  if  they  had  been  mentioned  in  the  Vinaya- 
pi/aka,  the  Second  Council  would  have  been  objectless. 
A  mere  appeal  to  chapter  and  verse  in  the  existing  Pi/aka 
would  then  have  silenced  all  dissent.  On  the  other  side,  if  it 
had  been  possible  to  add  anything  to  the  canon,  as  it  then 
existed,  the  ten,  or  nine,  deviations  might  have  been  con- 

*  Oldenberg,  Introduction,  p.  xxix.  ^  Oldenberg,  loc.  cit.  p.  xx. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxi 


demned  by  a  few  additional  paragraphs  of  the  canon, 
without  convoking  a  new  Council. 

I  think  we  may  be  nearly  certain,  therefore,  that  we 
possess  the  principal  portion  of  the  Vinaya-pi/aka  as  it 
existed  before  the  Council  of  Vesali. 

So  far  I  quite  agree  with  Dr.  Oldenberg.  But  if  he 
proceeds  to  argue  ^  that  certain  portions  of  the  canon  must 
have  been  finally  settled  before  even  the  First  Council  took 
place,  or  was  believed  to  have  taken  place,  I  do  not  think 
his  arguments  conclusive.  He  contends  that  in  the  Parinib- 
bana-sutta,  which  tells  of  the  last  days  of  Buddha's  life, 
of  his  death,  the  cremation  of  his  body,  and  the  distribution 
of  his  relics,  and  of  Subhadda's  revolt,  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  leave  out  all  mention  of  the  First 
Council,  if  that  Council  had  then  been  known.  It  is  true, 
no  doubt,  that  Subhadda's  disloyalty  was  the  chief  cause 
of  the  First  Council,  but  there  was  no  necessity  to  mention 
that  Council.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
unity  of  the  Parinibbana-sutta  would  have  been  broken  if, 
besides  telling  of  the  last  days  of  Buddha,  it  had  also  given 
a  full  description  of  the  Council.  The  very  title,  the  Sutta 
of  the  Great  Decease,  would  have  become  inappropriate,  if 
so  important  a  subject  as  the  first  Sahgiti  had  been  mixed 
up  with  it.  However,  how  little  we  may  trust  to  such 
general  arguments,  is  best  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  some 
very  early  Chinese  renderings  of  the  Hinayana  text  of  the 
Mahaparinibbana-sutta  the  story  is  actually  carried  on  to 
the  First  Council,  two  (Nos.  552  and  119)  mentioning  the 
rehearsal  under  Kaj-yapa,  while  the  third  (No.  118)  simply 
states  that  the  Tipi/aka  was  then  collected  ^. 

'  Loc.  cit.  pp.  xxvi-xxviii. 

^  There  are  several  Chinese  translations  of  Sutras  on  the  subject  of  the  Maha- 
parinirvarza.  Three  belong  to  theMahayana  school:  i.  Mahaparinirvawa-siitra, 
translated  by  Dharmaraksha,  about  414-423  a.  d.;  afterwards  revised,  424-453 
(Nos.  113,  114).  2.  Translation  by  Fa-hian  and  Buddhabhadra,  about  415  a.d.; 
less  complete  (No.  120).  3.  Translation  (vaipulya)  by  Dharmaraksha  I,  i.e.  ^u 
Fa-hu,  about  261-308  a.d.  (No.  116).  Three  belong  to  the  Ilinayana  school : 
I.  Mahaparinirva«a-s{itra,  translated  by  Po-fa-tsu,  about  290-306  a.d.  (No.  552). 
2. Translation  underthe  Eastern  Tsin  dynasty,  317-420  a.d.  (N0.119).  3.  Trans- 
lation by  Fa-hian,  about  415  a.d.  (No.  118). 


XXXU  DHAMMAPADA. 


We  must  be  satisfied  therefore,  so  far  as  I  can  see 
at  present,  with  fixing  the  date,  and  the  latest  date,  of 
a  Buddhist  canon  at  the  time  of  the  Second  Council, 
377  B.C.  That  some  works  were  added  later,  we  know; 
that  many  of  the  treatises  included  in  the  canon  existed 
before  that  Council,  can  hardly  be  doubted.  The  second 
chapter  of  the  Dhammapada,  for  instance,  is  called  the 
Appamada-vagga,  and  if  the  Mahavaw^sa  (p.  25)  tells  us 
that  at  the  time  when  Asoka  was  converted  by  Nigrodha, 
that  Buddhist  priest  explained  to  him  the  Appamada- 
vagga,  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  there  existed  then  a 
collection  (vagga)  of  verses  on  Appamada,  such  as  we 
now  possess  in  the  Dhammapada  and  in  the  Sa;//yutta- 
nikaya  ^. 

With  regard  to  the  Vinaya,  I  should  even  feel  inclined  to 
admit,  with  Dr.  Oldenberg,  that  it  must  have  existed  in 
a  more  or  less  settled  form  before  that  time.  What  I  doubt 
is  whether  such  terms  as  Pi^'aka,  basket,  or  Tipi/aka,  the 
three  baskets,  i.  e.  the  canon,  existed  at  that  early  time. 
They  have  not  been  met  with,  as  yet,  in  any  of  the  canon- 
ical books  ;  and  if  the  Dipava;;/sa  (IV,  32)  uses  the  word 
'  Tipi/aka,'  when  describing  the  First  Council,  this  is  due  to 
its  transferring  new  terms  to  older  times.  If  Dr.  Olden- 
berg speaks  of  a  Dvi-pi/aka-  as  the  name  of  the  canon 
before  the  third  basket,  that  of  the  Abhidhamma,  was 
admitted,  this  seems  to  me  an  impossible  name,  because  at 
the  time  when  the  Abhidhamma  was  not  yet  recognised  as 
a  third  part  of  the  canon,  the  word  pi/aka  had  probably 
no  existence  as  a  technical  term  ^ 

We  must  always,  I  think,  distinguish  between  the  three 
portions  of  the  canon,  called  the  basket  of  the  Suttas,  the 

*  Feer,  Revue  Critique,  1870,  No.  24,  p.  377.  ^  Introduction,  pp.  x,  xii. 

^  Dr.  Oldenberg  informs  me  that  pi/aka  occurs  in  the  JsTankisuttanta  in  the 
Ms-gghima  Nikaya  (Tumour  s  MS.,  fol.  the),  but  applied  to  the  Veda.  He 
also  refers  to  the  tipi/akaHryas  mentioned  in  the  Western  Cave  inscriptions  as 
compared  with  the  Paii/ianekayaka  in  the  square  Asoka  character  inscriptions 
(Cunningham,  Bharhut,  pi.  Ivi,  No.  52).  In  the  Sfltrakr/d-anga  of  the  Gainas, 
too,  the  term  pidagain  occurs  (MS.  Berol.  fol.  77  a).  He  admits,  however,  that 
pi/aka  or  tipi/aka,  as  the  technical  name  of  the  Buddhist  canon,  has  not  yet  been 
met  with  in  that  canon  itself,  and  defends  Dvipi.'aka  only  as  a  convenient  term. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXxiH 


basket  of  Vinaya,  and   the   basket  of  Abhidhamma,  and 
the  three  subjects  of  Dhamma  (sutta),  Vinaya,  and  Abhi- 
dhamma, treated   in  these  baskets.     The  subjects  existed 
and  were  taught  long  before  the  three  baskets  were  de- 
finitely arranged.     Dhamma  had  originally  a  much  wider 
meaning   than   Sutta-pi/aka.      It  often    means   the  whole 
teaching  of  Buddha ;  and  even  when  it   refers  more   par- 
ticularly to  the  Sutta-pi/aka,  we  know  that  the  Dhamma 
there  taught  deals  largely  with  Vinaya  and  Abhidhamma 
doctrines.     Even  the  fact  that  at  the  First  Council,  accord- 
ing to  the  description  given  in  the  -/Tullavagga,  the  Vinaya 
and   Dhamma  only  were  rehearsed,    though    proving   the 
absence  at  that  time  of  the  Abhidhamma,   as  a  separate 
Pi^aka,  by  no   means  excludes  the  subject  of  the  Abhi- 
dhamma having  been  taught  under  the  head  of  Dhamma. 
In  the  Mahakaru;/apu;/(^arika-sutra  the  doctrine  of  Buddha 
is  divided  into  Dharma  and  Vinaya  ;  the  Abhidharma  is 
not  mentioned.    But  the  same  text  knows  of  all  the  twelve 
Dharmapravay^anani  \  the  i.  Sutra;    2.  Geya ;    3.  Vyaka- 
ra;za  ;   4.  Gatha  ;    5,  Udana  ;    6.  Nidana  ;    7.  Avadana  ;   8. 
Itivr/ttaka  ;  9.  Cataka  ;  lO.VaipuIya;  11.  Adbhutadharma  ; 
12.  Upadej^a  ;  some  of  these  being  decidedly  metaphysical. 
To  my  mind  nothing  shows  so  well  the  historical  character 
both  of  the  ATullavagga  and  of  Buddhaghosa  in  the  Introduc- 
tion to  his  commentary  on  the  Digha-nikaya,  as  that  the 
former,  in  its  account  of  the  First  Council,  should  know 
only  of  the  Vinaya,  as  rehearsed  by  Upali,  and  the  Dhamma, 
as  rehearsed  by  Ananda,  while  the  much  later  Buddhaghosa, 
in  his  account  of  the  First  Council  ^,  divides  the  Dhamma 
into  two  parts,  and  states  that  the  second  part,  the  Abhi- 
dhamma, was  rehearsed  after  the  first  part,  the  Dhamma. 
Between   the   time    of  the  iTullavagga    and  the  time  of 
Buddhaghosa    the  Abhidhamma    must  have   assumed   its 
recognised  position  by  the  side  of  Vinaya  and  Sutta.     It 
must  be  left  to  further  researches  to  determine,  if  possible, 

^  See  Academy,  August  28, 1880,  Division  of  Buddhist  Scriptures. 
^  Oldenberg.  Introduction,  p.  xii ;  Tumour,  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of 
Bengal,  vi,  p.  510  seq. 

[10]  c 


XXXIV  DHAMMAPADA. 


the  time  when  the  name  of  pi/aka  was  first  used,  and  when 
Tipi/aka  was  accepted  as  the  title  of  the  whole  canon. 

Whenever  we  see  such  traces  of  growth,  we  feel  that  we 
are  on  historical  ground,  and  in  that  sense  Dr.  Olden- 
berg's  researches  into  the  growth  of  the  Vinaya,  previous 
to  the  Second  Council,  deserve  the  highest  credit.  He 
shows,  in  opposition  to  other  scholars,  that  the  earliest 
elements  of  Vinaya  must  be  looked  for  in  the  short  Pati- 
mokkha  rules,  which  were  afterwards  supplemented  by 
explanations,  by  glosses  and  commentaries,  and  in  that 
form  answered  for  some  time  every  practical  purpose. 
Then  followed  a  new  generation  who,  not  being  satisfied, 
as  it  would  seem,  with  these  brief  rules  and  comments, 
wished  to  know  the  occasion  on  which  these  rules  had  been 
originally  promulgated.  What  we  now  call  the  Vibhahga, 
i.  e.  the  first  and  second  divisions  of  the  Vinaya-pi/aka,  is 
a  collection  of  the  stories,  illustrating  the  origin  of  each 
rule,  of  the  rules  themselves  (the  Patimokkha),  and  of  the 
glosses  and  comments  on  these  rules. 

The  third  and  fourth  books,  the  Mahavagga  and  A'ulla- 
vagga,  are  looked  upon  as  possibly  of  a  slightly  later  date. 
They  treat,  in  a  similar  manner  as  the  Vibhahga,  on  the  rules 
not  included  in  that  collection,  and  give  a  general  picture 
of  the  outward  life  of  the  monks.  While  the  Vibhahga  deals 
chiefly  with  the  original  so-called  para§"ika,  sahghadisesa,  and 
pa/'ittiya  offences,  the  Khandhaka,  i.  e.  the  Mahavagga 
and  -^ullavagga,  treats  of  the  so-called  dukka/a  and  thul- 
la^^aya  crimes.  The  arrangement  is  the  same,  story,  rule, 
and  comment  succeeding  each  other  in  regular  sequence. 

If  we  follow  the  guidance  of  the  Vinaya-pi/aka,  we  should 
be  able  to  distinguish  the  following  steps  in  the  growth  of 
Buddhism  before  the  Second  Council  of  Vesali : 

1.  Teaching  of  Buddha  and  his  disciples  (543/477  A.D. 

Buddha's  death). 

2.  Collection  of  Patimokkha  rules  (first  code). 

3.  Comment  and  glosses  on  these  rules. 

4.  Stories  in  illustration  of  these  rules  (vibhahga). 

5.  Mahavagga  and  ATullavagga  (Khandhaka). 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV 


6.  Council  of  Vesali  for  the  repression    of  ten   abuses 

(443/377  A.  D.) 

7.  Description  of  First  and  Second  Councils  in  ATuUavagga. 
The  iiTullavagga  ascribes  the  settlement  of  the  canon  to 
the  First  Council,  and  does  not  even  claim  a  revision  of 
that  canon  for  the  Second  Council.  The  Dipava;;/sa  claims 
a  revision  of  the  canon  by  the  700  Arhats  for  the  Second 
Council. 

Chronology. 

In  order  to  bring  the  Council  of  Vesali  in  connection 
with  the  chronology  of  the  world,  we  must  follow  the 
Buddhist  historians  for  another  century.  One  hundred  and 
eighteen  years  after  the  Council  of  Vesali  they  place  the 
anointment  of  King  Asoka,  during  whose  reign  a  Third 
Council,  under  the  presidency  of  Tissa  Moggaliputta,  took 
place  at  Pa/aliputta,  the  new  capital  adopted  by  that  king, 
instead  of  Ra^agaha  and  Vesali.  This  Council  is  chiefly 
known  to  us  through  the  writings  of  the  southern  Buddhists 
(Dipava;;zsa,  Mahavawzsa,  and  Buddhaghosa),  who  belong 
to  the  school  of  Moggaliputta  (Theravada  or  Vibha^^avada), 
which  ruled  supreme  at  Pa/aliputta,  while  Upagupta,  the 
chief  authority  of  the  northern  Buddhists,  is  altogether 
ignored  in  the  Pali  chronicles. 

Now  it  is  well  known  that  Asoka  was  the  grandson 
of  A'andagutta,  and  /iandagutta  the  contemporary  of 
Alexander  the  Great.  Here  we  see  land,  and  I  may 
refer  to  my  History  of  Sanskrit  Literature,  published  in 
1859,  for  the  process  by  which  the  storm-tossed  ship  of 
Indian  chronology  has  been  landed  in  the  harbour  of  real 
historical  chronology.  We  are  told  by  the  monks  of  the 
Mahavihara  in  Ceylon  that  Asoka  was  crowned,  according 
to  their  computation,  146  +  18  years  before  the  accession 
of  Du////agamani,  161  B.C.,  i.e.  325  B.C. ;  that  between  his 
coronation  and  his  father's  death  four  years  had  elapsed 
(329  B.  C.) ;  that  his  father  Bindusara  had  reigned  twenty- 
eight  years ^  {357-3^9  B.C.),  and  Bindusara's  father,  Kan- 


'  Mahavamsa,  p.  21. 
C  2 


XXXVl  DHAMMAPADA. 


dagutta,  twenty-four  years  (381-357).  As  we  know  that 
A'andagutta,  whom  the  Ceylonese  place  381-357  B.C.,  was 
king  of  India  after  Alexander's  conquest,  it  follows  that 
Ceylonese  chronology  is  wrong  by  more  than  half  a 
century.  For  reasons  stated  in  my  History  of  Sanskrit 
Literature,  I  fix  the  exact  fault  in  Ceylonese  chronology 
as  sixty-six  years,  assigning  to  /iandagutta  the  dates 
315-391,  instead  of  381-357.  This  gives  us  291-263  for 
Bindusara,  259  for  Asoka's  abhisheka ;  259+118  =  377 
for  the  Council  of  Vesali,  and  377  +  100  =  477  for  Buddha's 
death,  instead  of  543  B.C.' 

These  dates  are,  of  course,  approximate  only,  and  they 
depend  on  one  or  two  points  on  which  people  may  differ. 
But,  with  that  reservation,  I  see  no  ground  whatever  for 
modifying  the  chronological  system  which  I  put  forward 
more  than  twenty  years  ago.  Professor  Westergaard  and 
Professor  Kern,  who  have  since  suggested  different  dates 
for  the  death  of  Buddha,  do  not  really  differ  from  me  in 
principle,  but  only  in  their  choice  of  one  or  the  other  alter- 
native, which  I  readily  admit  as  possible,  but  not  as  more 
certain  than  my  own.  Professor  Westergaard",  for  instance, 
fixes  Buddha's  death  at  368  (370),  instead  of  477.  This 
seems  a  wide  difference,  but  it  is  so  in  appearance  only. 

Following  Justinus,  who  says  that  Sandrokyptos  ^  had 
conquered  the  empire  of  India  at  the  time  when  Seleucus 
laid  the  foundations  of  his  own  greatness,  I  had  accepted 
315^,  half-way  between  the  murder  of  Porus  and  the 
taking  of  Babylon  by  Seleucus,  as  the  probable  beginning 

*  According  to  Bigandet,  Life  of  Gaudama,  p.  361,  the  era  of  Buddha's  death 
was  introduced  by  A^atasatru,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  First  Council,  and 
began  in  the  year  146  of  the  older  Eetzana  era  (p.  12).  See,  however,  Rhys 
Davids,  Num.  Orient,  vi,  p.  38.  In  the  Kara«t/a-vyuha,  p.  96,  a  date  is  given 
as  300  after  the  Nirvana, '  tr/tiye  varshasate  gate  mama  parinirvntasya.'  In  the 
Asoka-avadana  we  read,  mama  nirvntim  arabhya  satavarshagata  Upagupto 
nama  bhikshur  utpatsyati. 

'^  Uber  Buddha's  Todesjahr  (i860),  1862. 

^  The  Greek  name  Sandrokyptus  shows  that  the  Pali  corruption  A'andagutta 
was  not  yet  the  recognised  name  of  the  king. 

*  Mr.  Rhys  Davids  accepts  315  b.  c.  as  the  date  when,  after  the  murder  of 
king  Nanda,  A'andragupta  slept  into  the  vacant  throne,  though  he  had  begun 
to  count  his  reign  seven  or  eight  years  before.     Buddhism,  p.  220. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXVll 


of  iTandragupta's  reign.  Westergaard  prefers  320  as  a 
more  likely  date  for  A'andragupta,  and  therefore  places  the 
death  of  the  last  Nanda  and  the  beginning  of  Aj-oka's 
royal  pretensions  268.  Here  there  is  a  difference  between 
him  and  me  of  five  years,  which  depends  chiefly  on  the 
view  we  take  as  to  the  time  when  Seleucus  really  laid  what 
Justinus  calls  the  foundation  of  his  future  greatness. 
Secondly,  Westergaard  actually  adopts  the  idea,  at  which  I 
only  hinted  as  possible,  that  the  southern  Buddhists  made 
two  Aj"okas  out  of  one,  and  two  Councils  out  of  one. 
Trusting-  in  the  tradition  that  118  years  elapsed  between 
Buddha's  death  and  the  Council  under  A.foka  (at  Pa/aliputra), 
and  that  the  Council  took  place  in  the  king's  tenth  year 
(as  was  the  case  with  the  imaginary  Kalaxoka's  Council), 
he  gets  268  —  10  =  258  as  the  date  of  the  Council,  and  368 
or  370  as  the  date  of  Buddha's  death  \ 

The  two  points  on  which  Westergaard  differs  from  me, 
seem  to  me  questions  which  should  be  kept  before  our 
mind  in  dealing  with  early  Buddhist  history,  but  which, 
for  the  present  at  least,  admit  of  no  definite  solution. 

The  same  remark  seems  to  me  to  apply  to  the  calcula- 
tions of  another  eminent  Sanskrit  scholar.  Professor  Kern^. 
He  lays  great  stress  on  the  general  untrustworthiness  of 
Indian  chronology,  and  I  am  the  last  to  differ  from  him 
on  that  point.  He  then  places  the  beginning  of  iTandra- 
gupta's  reign  in  322  B.C.  Allowing  twenty-four  years  to  him 
and  twenty-eight  to  his  son  Bindusara,  he  places  the  begin- 
ning of  Aj-oka's  reign  in  270.  Aj'oka's  inscriptions  would 
fall  about  258.  As  Asoka.  reigned  thirty-six  or  thirty-seven 
years,  his  death  would  fall  in  234  or  233  B.C.  Like  Wester- 
gaard, Professor  Kern  too  eliminates  Kalaj-oka,  as  a  kind  of 
chronological  A^oka,  and  the  Council  of  Vai^-ali,  and  there- 
fore places  Buddha's  death,  according  to  the  northern  tradi- 
tion, 100  or  no  years  before  Dharmajoka,  i.e.  270+100 
or  -I-  110  =  370  or  380  3;   while,  according  to  the  southern 

•  Westergaard,  loc.  cit.  p.  128. 

^  Jaartelling  der  Zuidelijke  Buddhisten,  1873. 

3  See  Professor  Kern's  remark  in  Indian  Antiquary,  1874,  p.  79. 


XXXVIU  DHAMMAPADA. 


tradition,  that  ii8  years  elapsed  between  Aj-oka's  acces- 
sion and  Buddha's  death,  the  Ceylonese  monks  would  seem 
originally  to  have  retained  270+118^  =  388  B.C.  as  Buddha's 
Nirvana,  a  date  which,  as  Professor  Kern  holds,  happens 
to  coincide  with  the  date  assigned  to  the  death  of  Maha- 
vira,  the  founder  of  the  Caina  religion. 

Here  we  see  again  that  the  moot  point  is  the  beginning 
of  A'andragupta's  reign  in  accordance  with  the  information 
supplied  by  Greek  historians.  Professor  Kern  places  it  in 
322,  Westergaard  in  320,  I  myself  in  315.  That  difference 
once  granted,  Dr.  Kern's  reasoning  is  the  same  as  my  own. 
According  to  the  traditions  which  we  follow,  Buddha's 
death  took  place  100,  no,  118,  or  228^  years  before  Aj-oka. 
Hence  Professor  Westergaard  arrives  at  368  or  370  B.C. 
Professor  Kern  at  370  (380) or  388  B.C.,  I  myself  at  477  B.C. 
Every  one  of  these  dates  is  liable  to  certain  objections,  and 
if  I  prefer  my  own  date,  477  B.C.,  it  is  simply  because  it 
seems  to  me  liable  to  neither  more  nor  less  reservations 
than  those  of  Professor  Westergaard  and  Professor  Kern, 
and  because,  so  long  as  we  always  remember  the  grounds 
of  our  differences,  namely,  the  beginning  of  iTandragupta's 
reign,  and  the  additional  century,  every  one  of  these  dates 
furnishes  a  good  hypothesis  to  work  on,  until  we  can  arrive 
at  greater  certainty  in  the  ancient  chronology  of  India. 

To  my  mind  all  dates  beyond  A'andragupta  are  as  yet 
purely  tentative,  resting  far  more  on  a  chronological  theory 
than  on  actual  tradition  ;  and  though  I  do  not  doubt  the 
historical  character  of  the  Council  of  Vaii-ali,  I  look  upon 
the  date  assigned  to  it,  on  the  authority  of  the  Dipavawsa 
and  Mahavawsa,  as,  for  the  present,  hypothetical  only. 


'  When  Professor  Kern  states  that  the  Mahava7?!sa  (p.  22)  places  the  Third 
Council  218  years  after  Buddha's  death,  this  is  not  so.  Asoka's  abhisheka  takes 
place  in  that  year.  The  prophecy  that  a  calamity  would  befall  their  religion,  118 
years  after  the  Second  Council  (^Mahavawsa,  p.  28),  does  not  refer  to  the  Council, 
but  to  isTandasoka's  accession,  477  —  218=  259  b. c. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXxix 


B.C. 


557.   Buddha  born. 

552.    BImbisara  born. 

537-485.  Bimbisara,  5  years  younger  than  Buddha,  was 
15  when  crowned,  30  or  31  when  he  met  Buddha  in  522. 

485-453.   A^ataj-atru  (4x8  years). 

477.    Buddha's  death  (485  —  8  =  477). 

477.  Council  at  Ragagriha  under  Kaj'yapa,  Ananda, 
and  Upah. 

453-437.    Udayibhadra  (2x8  years). 
/  Anuruddhaka  (8  years). 

437  429-  \  Mu«^a  (at  Pa/ahputra). 

429-405.    Nagadasaka  (3  x  8  years). 

405-387.    6"ij-unaga  (at  VauaH). 

387-359.    Kalajoka. 

377.  Council  at  Vai^ali,  under  Yai'as  and  Revata, 
a  disciple  of  Ananda  (259  +  118=1:377). 

359~337-    Ten  sons  of  Kalaj-oka  (22  years). 

337-315.  Nine  Nandas  (22  years);  the  last,  Dhana- 
nanda,  killed  by  Kanakya.. 

315-291.   ^andragupta  (477  —  162  =  315;  3x8  years)\ 

291-263.    Bindusara. 

263-259.  Ai'okaj  sub-king  at  LJ^^ayini,  as  pretender — • 
his  brothers  killed. 

259.    Ai-oka  anointed  at  Pa/aliputra  (477  —  218  =  259). 

256.    Aj"oka  converted  by  Nigrodha  (D.V.  VI,  18). 

256-253.    Building  of  Viharas,  Sthupas,  &c. 

255.    Conversion  of  Tishya  (M.  V.  p.  34). 

253.    Ordination  of  Mahendra  (born  477  —  204=273). 

251.  Tishya  and  Sumitra  die  (D.V.  Vll,  32). 

242.  Council  at  PArALiPUTRA  (259—17  =  242 ;  477  — 
236  =  241),  under  Tishya  Maudgaliputra  (477  —  236  =  241; 
D.V.  VII,  37). 

241.    Mahendra  to  Ceylon. 

222.    Ai-oka  died  (259  —  37  =  222). 

193.    Mahendra  died  (D.V.  xvii,  93). 

161.   Du/^/zagdmani. 

88-76.  Vattagamani,  canon  reduced  to  writing. 

A.D. 

400.    Dipava;;/sa. 

420.   Buddhaghosha,  Pali  commentaries, 

459-477.    Mahavawsa. 


1  Westergaard,  320-296;  Kern,  322-20 


xl  DHAMMAPADA. 


Though  the  preceding  table,  embodying  in  the  main  the 
results  at  which  I  arrived  in  my  History  of  Ancient  San- 
skrit Literature,  still  represents  what  I  hold  to  be  true  or 
most  probable  with  respect  to  Indian  chronology,  previous 
to  the  beginning  of  our  era,  yet  I  suppose  I  may  be  expected 
to  say  here  a  few  words  on  the  two  latest  attempts  to  fix 
the  date  of  Buddha's  death  ;  the  one  by  Mr.  Rhys  Davids 
in  the  Numismata  Orientalia,  Part  VI,  1877,  the  other  by 
Dr.  Blihler  in  the  Indian  Antiquary,  1877  and  1878  \  Mr. 
Rhys  Davids,  to  whom  we  owe  so  much  for  the  elucidation 
of  the  history  of  Buddha's  religion,  accepts  Westergaard's 
date  for  the  beginning  of  A'andragupta's  reign,  320  B.C., 
instead  of  322  (Kern),  315  (myself);  and  as  he  assigns 
(p.  41)  to  Bindusara  25  years  instead  of  28  (Mahavawsa, 
p.  21),  he  arrives  at  268  as  the  year  of  Aj-oka's  coronation^. 
He  admits  that  the  argument  derived  from  the  mention  of 
the  five  foreign  kings  in  one  of  Anoka's  inscriptions,  dated 
the  twelfth  year  of  his  reign,  is  too  precarious  to  enable  us 
to  fix  the  date  of  Aj-oka's  reign  more  definitely,  and  though, 
in  a  general  way,  that  inscriptioxi  confirms  the  date  assigned 
by  nearly  all  scholars  to  Ajroka  in  the  middle  of  the  third 
century  B.C.,  yet  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  Ai^oka  might 
not  have  written  in  247  quite  as  well  as  in  258-261.  What 
chiefly  distinguishes  Mr.  Rhys  Davids'  chronology  from  that 
of  his  predecessors  is  the  shortness  of  the  period  between 
Aj^oka's  coronation  and  Buddha's  death.  On  the  strength 
of  an  examination  of  the  list  of  kings  and  the  list  of  the 
so-called  patriarchs,  he  reduces  the  traditional  218  years 
to  140  or  150,  and  thus  arrives  at  412  B.C.  as  the  probable 
beginning  of  the  Buddhist  era. 

In  this,  however,  I  cannot  follow  him,  but  have  to 
follow  Dr.  Biihler.  As  soon  as  I  saw  Dr.  Biihler's  first 
essay  on  the  Three  New  Edicts  of  Aj-oka,  I  naturally  felt 
delighted  at  the  unexpected  confirmation  which  he  fur- 
nished of  the  date  which  I  had  assigned  to  Buddha's 
death,  477  B.C.     And   though  I  am  quite   aware   of  the 

*  Three  New  Edicts  of  Asoka,  Bombay,  1877  ;  Second  Notice,  Bombay,  1878. 
^  Mr.  Rliys  Davids  on  p.  50  assigns  the  25  years  of  Bindusara  rightly  to  the 
Purawas,  the  28  years  to  the  Ceylon  Chronicles. 


INTRODUCTION.  xll 


danger  of  unexpected  confirmations  of  one's  own  views, 
yet,  after  carefully  weighing  the  objections  raised  by  Mr. 
Rhys  Davids  and  Professor  Pischel  against  Dr.  Biihler's 
arguments,  I  cannot  think  that  they  have  shaken  Dr. 
Biihler's  position.  I  fully  admit  the  difficulties  in  the 
phraseology  of  these  inscriptions :  but  I  ask,  Who  could 
have  written  these  inscriptions,  if  not  Aj-oka  ?  And  how, 
if  written  by  Aj-oka,  can  the  date  which  they  contain  mean 
anything  but  256  years  after  Buddha's  Nirva/za  ?  These 
points,  how^ever,  have  been  argued  in  so  masterly  a  manner 
by  Dr.  Biihler  in  his  '  Second  Notice,'  that  I  should  be 
afraid  of  weakening  his  case  by  adding  anything  of  my 
own,  and  must  refer  my  readers  to  his  '  Second  Notice.' 
Allowing  that  latitude  which,  owing  to  the  doubtful  read- 
ings of  MSS.,  and  the  constant  neglect  of  odd  months,  we 
must  allow  in  the  interpretation  of  Buddhist  chronology, 
A^oka  is  the  only  king  we  know  of  who  could  have 
spoken  of  a  thirty-fourth  year  since  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  and  since  his  conversion  to  Buddhism.  And  if  he 
calls  that  year,  say  the  very  last  of  his  reign  (322  B.C.),  %^6 
after  the  departure  of  the  Master,  we  have  a  right  to  say 
that  as  early  as  Aj-oka's  time,  Buddha  was  believed  to  have 
died  about  477  B.C.  Whether  the  inscriptions  have  been 
accurately  copied  and  rightly  read  is,  however,  a  more 
serious  question,  and  the  doubts  raised  by  Dr.  Oldenberg 
(Mahavagga,  p.  xxxviii)  make  a  new  collation  of  the 
originals  absolutely  indispensable,  before  we  can  definitely 
accept  Dr.  Biihler's  interpretation. 

I  cannot  share  Dr.  Biihler's  opinion^  as  to  the  entire 
worthlessness  of  the  Caina  chronology  in  confirming  the 
date  of  Buddha's  death.  If  the  ^"vetambara  6'ainas  place 
the  death  of  Mahavira  470  before  Vikramaditya,  i.  e.  ^6  B.C. 
+  470  =  526B.C.,and  the  Digambaras 605,  i.e.  7 8  a.D. deducted 
from  605  =  527  B.C.,  this  so  far  confirms  Dr.  Biihler's  and 
Dr.  Jacobi's  brilliant  discovery  that  Mahavira  was  the  same 
as  Niga«///a  Nataputta,  who  died  at  Pava  during  Buddha"s 
lifetime  -.    Most  likely  527  is  too  early  a  date,  while  another 

'  Three  Edicts,  p.  21;  Second  Notice,  pp.  9,  10. 

2  See  Jacobi,  Kalpa-sutra  of  Bhadrabahu,  and  Oldenberg,  Zeitschrift   der 
D.M.G.,  XXXIV,  p.  749. 


xlii  ■  DHAMMAPADA. 


tradition  fixing  Mahavira's  death  155  years  before  A'andra- 
gupta\  470  B.C..  is  too  late.  Yet  they  both  show  that 
the  distance  between  Ajroka  (259-222  B.C.),  the  grandson 
of /Tandragupta  (315-291  B.C.),  and  the  contemporaries  of 
Buddha  was  by  the  Cainas  also  believed  to  be  one  of  two 
rather  than  one  century. 

When  I  saw  that  the  date  of  Buddha's  death,  477  B.C., 
which  in  my  History  of  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature  (1859) 
I  had  myself  tried  to  support  by  such  arguments  as  were 
then  accessible,  had  received  so  powerful  a  support  by  the 
discovery  of  the  inscriptions  of  Sahasram,  Rupnath,  and 
Bairat,  due  to  General  Cunningham,  who  had  himself 
always  been  an  advocate  of  the  date  477  B.C.,  and  through 
their  careful  decipherment  by  Dr.  Buhler,  I  lost  no  time 
in  testing  that  date  once  more  by  the  Dipavawsa,  that 
Ceylonese  chronicle  having  lately  become  accessible  through 
Dr.  Oldenberg's  edition  and  translation  ^.  And  here  I  am 
able  to  say  that,  before  having  read  Dr.  Biihler's  Second 
Notice,  I  arrived,  though  by  a  somewhat  different  way,  at 
nearly  the  same  conclusions  as  those  so  well  worked  out  by 
Dr.  Biihler  in  his  restoration  of  the  Episcopal  Succession 
(theravali)  of  the  Buddhists,  and  therefore  feel  convinced 
that,  making  all  such  allowances  as  the  case  requires,  we 
know  now  as  much  of  early  Buddhist  chronology  as  could 
be  known  at  the  time  of  Ai'oka^s  Council,  242  B.C. 

Taking  the  date  of  Buddha's  death  477  B.C.  for  granted, 
I  found  that  Upali,  who  rehearsed  the  Vinaya  at  the  First 
Council,  477  B.C.,  had  been  in  orders  sixty  years  in  the 
twenty-fourth  year  of  A^atai-atru,  i.  e.  461  B.C.,  which  was 
the  sixteenth  year  A.B.  He  must  therefore^  have  been  born 
in  54J  B.C.,  and  he  died  447  B.C.,  i.  e.  thirty  years  A.B.,  at 
the  age  of  94.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  sixth  year  of 
Udayi,  and  so  it  is,  453  —  6^=447  B.C. 

In  the  year  461  B.C.  Daj-aka  received  orders  from  Upali, 
who  was  then  80  years  of  age  ;  and  when  Da^-aka  had  been 


*  Oldenberg,  loc.  cit.  p.  750- 

"^  The  Dipavawsa,  an  ancient  Buddhist  historical  record.   London,  1879. 

'  Assuming  twenty  to  be  the  minimum  age  at  which  a  man  could  be  ordained. 


INTRODUCTION.  .  xlii 


HI 


in  orders  forty-five  years  (Dipava//zsa  IV,  41),  he  ordained 
^aunaka.  This  would  give  us  461—45=416  B.C.,  while  the 
tenth  year  of  Nagadasa,  439  —  10,  would  give  us  419  a.d. 
Later  on  the  Dipava;//sa  (V,  78)  allows  an  interval  of  forty 
years  between  the  ordinations  of  Da^-aka  and  5aunaka, 
which  would  bring  the  date  of  ^aunaka's  ordination  to  421 
B.C.,  instead  of  419  or  416  B.C.  Here  there  is  a  fault  which 
must  be  noted.  Daj-aka  died  461—64  =  397  A.D.,  which  is 
called  the  eighth  year  of  6"ij-unaga,  and  so  it  is,  405  —  8  = 
397  A.D. 

When  vSaunaka  had  been  in  orders  forty  years,  i.  e. 
416  —  40  =  376,  Kalai-oka  is  said  to  have  reigned  a  little 
over  ten  years,  i.e.  387  —  11  =  376  A.D.,  and  in  that  year 
^aunaka  ordained  Siggava.  He  died  416  —  66  =  350  A.D., 
which  is  called  the  sixth  year  of  the  Ten,  while  in  reality 
it  is  the  ninth,  359  — 6  =  ^^^  A.D.  If,  however,  we  take  419 
as  the  year  of  ^~"aunaka's  ordination,  his  death  would  fall 
419-66  =  353  B.C. 

Siggava,  when  he  had  been  in  orders  sixty-four  years, 
ordained  Tishya  Maudgaliputra.  This  date  376  —  64  =  312 
B.C.  is  called  more  than  two  years  after  A'andragupta's 
accession,  and  so  it  very  nearly  is,  315  —  2  =  313. 

Siggava  died  when  he  had  been  in  orders  seventy-six 
years,  i.  e.  376  —  76  =  300  A.D.  This  year  is  called  the 
fourteenth  year  of  A'andragupta,  which  it  very  nearly  is, 
315-14=301. 

When  Tishya  had  been  in  orders  sixty  ^  years,  he  or- 
dained Mahendra,  312  —  60  =  252  B.C.  This  is  called  six 
years  after  Aj-oka's  coronation,  259  — 6  =  253,  and  so  it  very 
nearly  is.  He  died  312  —  80  =  232  B.C.,  which  is  called  the 
twenty-sixth  year  of  Aj-oka,  and  so  it  very  nearly  is. 


1  I  take  60  (80),  as  given  in  Dipavawzsa  V,  95,  107,  instead  of  66  (86),  as 
given  in  Dipava?wsa  V,  94. 


xllv  DHAMMAPADA. 


Buddhist  Patriarchs. 

Ordination  of  Patri- 

Birth.        Ordination,     successor.     Death.       Age.      archate. 

Upali        (Generally       527  461  447         94         30 

20  years  (60) 

^^    ,  before  .  ^  .  . 

Daraka    ordination.)      ^61  416         397         84         50 

419  ^ 

45)     421 

42 

40 

^aunaka     „      416  j     376  j   350    86    44(47) 
419  t  379  }      353 


421)  381  j 

(40) 

Siggava  „  376I  312^       300I       96         50(52) 

(64) 

Tishya  „  312^  253         233       100         68 

(60) 

]\Iahendra       273  253  „  193         80         40 


282(284) 


If  we  test  the  dates  of  this  table  by  the  length  of  time 
assigned  to  each  patriarchate,  we  find  that  Upali  ruled 
thirty  years,  from  Buddha's  death,  477  to  447  ;  Daj-aka 
fifty  years.  To  5aunaka  forty-four  years  are  assigned, 
instead  of  forty-seven,  owing  to  a  fault  pointed  out  before  ; 
and  to  Siggava  fifty-two  years,  or  fifty-five  ^  instead  of  fifty. 
Tishya's  patriarchate  is  said  to  have  lasted  sixty-eight 
years,  which  agrees  with  previous  statements. 

Lastly,  the  years  of  the  death  of  the  six  patriarchs,  as 
fixed  according  to  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of  Magadha, 
agree  extremely  well. 

Upali  died  in  the  sixth  year  of  Udayi, i,  e. 453  —  6  =  447 B.C. 

Daj-aka  died  in  the  eighth  year  of  6"i.$"unaga,  i.e.  405  — 8  = 
397  B.C. 

.Saunaka  died  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  Ten,  i.  e.  359  —  6  = 
353  B.C.,  showing  again  the  difference  of  three  years. 

'  The  combined  patriarchates  of  >S'aunaka  and  Siggava  are  given  as  99  by  the 
Dipava?«sa. 


INTRODUCTION.  xl 


V 


Siggava  died  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  ^andragupta,  i.  e. 
315-14  =  301  B.C. 

Tishya  died  in  the  twenty-sixth  or  twenty-seventh  year 
of  Ai-oka,  i.e.  259  —  27  =  233  B.C. 

This  general  and  more  than  general  agreement  between 
dates  taken  from  the  history  of  the  kings  and  the  history 
of  the  patriarchs  leaves  on  my  mind  a  decided  impression 
of  a  tradition  which,  though  not  strictly  historical,  in  our 
sense  of  the  word,  represents  at  all  events  the  result  of  such 
enquiries  as  could  be  made  into  the  past  ages  of  Buddhism 
at  the  time  of  Ai-oka.  There  are  difficulties  in  that  tradition 
which  would  certainly  have  been  avoided,  if  the  whole 
chronology  had  been  simply  made  up  :  but  there  is  no 
doubt  a  certain  method  too  perceptible  throughout,  which 
warns  us  that  we  must  not  mistake  a  smooth  chronology 
for  solid  history. 

The  Title  of  Dhammapada. 

The  title  of  Dhammapada  has  been  interpreted  in  various 
ways.  It  is  an  ambiguous  word,  and  has  been  accepted  as 
such  by  the  Buddhists  themselves.  Dhamma  has  many 
meanings.  Under  one  aspect  it  means  religion,  particu- 
larly the  religion  taught  by  Buddha,  the  law  which  every 
Buddhist  should  accept  and  observe.  Under  another  aspect 
dhamma  is  virtue,  or  the  realisation  of  the  law. 

Pada  also  has  many  meanings.  In  the  Abhidhana- 
padipika  it  is  explained  by  place,  protection,  Nirva;/a,  cause, 
word,  thing,  portion,  foot,  footstep. 

Hence  dhammapada  may  mean  'footstep  of  religion,' 
and  thus  the  title  was  first  rendered  by  Gogerly,  only  that 
he  used  the  plural  instead  of  the  singular,  and  called  it  '  The 
Footsteps  of  Religion,'  while  Spence  Hardy  still  more  freel>' 
called  it  '  The  Paths  of  Religion.'  It  may  be  quite  true,  as 
pointed  out  by  Childers,  that  pada  by  itself  never  means 
path.  But  it  means  footstep,  and  the  footstep  towards 
a  thing  is  much  the  same  as  what  we  call  the  path  to  a 
thing.  Thus  we  read,  verse  21,  'appamado  amatapadam,' 
earnestness  is  the  step,  i.  e.  the  path  that  leads  to  immor- 


xlvi  DHAMMAPADA. 


tality.  Again,  '  pamado  ma/^/^uno  padam  '  can  hardly  mean 
anything  but  that  thoughtlessness  is  the  path  of  death,  is 
the  path  that  leads  to  death.  The  commentator,  too, 
rightly  explains  it  here  by  amatasya  adhigamupaya,  the 
means  of  obtaining  immortality,  i.  e.  Nirvawa^  or  simply  by 
upayo,  and  even  by  maggo,  the  way.  If  we  compare  verses 
92  and  93  of  our  text,  and  verses  254  and  255,  we  see  that 
pad  a  is  used  synonymously  with  gati,  going.  In  the 
same  manner  dhammapada  would  mean  the  footstep  or 
the  footpath  of  virtue,  i.  e.  the  path  that  leads  to  virtue,  and 
supply  a  very  appropriate  title  for  a  collection  of  moral 
precepts.  In  verses  44  and  45  'path  of  virtue'  seems  to  be 
the  most  appropriate  meaning  for  dhammapada  ^,  and  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  assign  any  other  meaning  to  it  in  the 
following  verse  (TTundasutta,  v.  6)  : 

Yo  dhammapade  sudesite 

Magge  ^ivati  sa;7/}ato  satima, 

Anava^a-padani  sevamano 

Tatiyam  bhikkhum  ahu  magga^ivim, 
*  He  who  lives  restrained  and  attentive  in  the  way  that  has 
been  well  pointed  out,  in  the  path  of  the  law,  cultivating 
blameless   words,  such  a  Bhikkhu  they  call  a  Magga^ivi 
(living  in  the  way).' 

I  therefore  think  that  '  Path  of  Virtue,''  or  '  Footstep  of 
the  Law,'  was  the  idea  most  prominent  in  the  mind  of  those 
who  originally  framed  the  title  of  this  collection  of  verses. 
It  seems  to  me  that  Buddhaghosa  also  took  the  same  view, 
for  the  verse  which  D'Alwis^  quotes  from  the  introduction 
of  Buddhaghosa's  commentary, — 
Sampatta-saddhammapado  sattha  dhammapadaw  subha;;« 
Desesi, 
and  which  he  translates,  '  The  Teacher  who  had  reached 
the  very  depths  (lit.  bottom)  of  Saddhamma,  preached  this 
holy  Dhammapada,' — lends  itself  far  better  to  another 
translation,   viz.    '  The   Teacher   who  had   gained    a  firm 


'  Cf.  Dhammapada,  v.  285,  nibbanam  sugatena  desitawz. 
^  Buddhist  Nirva«a,  p.  62. 


INTRODUCTION.  xlvil 


footing  in  the  Good  Law,  showed  (preached)  the  holy  Path 
of  the  Law.' 

Gogerly,  again,  who  may  generally  be  taken  as  a  faithful 
representative  of  the  tradition  of  the  Buddhists  still  pre- 
served in  Ceylon,  translates  the  title  by  the  '  Footsteps  of 
Religion,'  so  that  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  priests 
of  that  island  accept  Dhammapada  in  the  sense  of  'Vestiges 
of  Religion,'  or,  from  a  different  point  of  view,  '  The  Path 
of  Virtue.' 

M.  L.  Feer  ^  takes  a  slightly  different  view,  and  assigning 
to  pada  the  meaning  of  foot  or  base,  he  translates  Dhamma- 
pada by  Loi  fondamentale,  or  Base  de  la  Religion. 

But  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  title  of  Dhammapada 
was  very  soon  understood  in  a  different  sense  also,  namely, 
as  '  Sentences  of  Religion.'  Pada  means  certainly  a  foot  of 
a  verse,  a  verse,  or  a  line,  and  dhammapadam  actually 
occurs  in  the  sense  of  a  '  religious  sentence.'  Thus  we  read 
in  verse  102,  '  Though  a  man  recite  a  hundred  Gathas  made 
up  of  senseless  words,  one  dhammapadam,  i.e.  one  single 
word  or  line  of  the  law,  is  better,  which  if  a  man  hears,  he 
becomes  quiet.'  But  here  we  see  at  once  the  difficulty  of 
translating  the  title  of  '  dhammapadam  '  by  '  religious  sen- 
tences.' Dhammapadam  means  one  law  verse,  or  wise 
saw,  not  many.  Professor  Fausboll,  who  in  his  excellent 
edition  of  the  Dhammapada  translated  that  title  by  '  a  col- 
lection of  verses  on  religion,'  appeals  to  such  passages  as 
verses  44  and  102  in  support  of  his  interpretation.  But  in 
verse  42  dhammapadaw  sudesita;;^,  even  if  it  does  not 
mean  the  path  of  the  law,  could  never  mean  'versus  legis 
bene  enarratos,' but  only  versum  legis  bene  enarra- 
tum,  as  Dr.  Fausboll  himself  renders  eka;;^  dhammapada;«, 
in  verse  102,  by  unus  legis  versus.  Buddhaghosa,  too, 
when  he  speaks  of  many  law  verses  uses  the  plural,  for 
instance  ^,  '  Be  it  known  that  the  Gatha  consists  of  the 
Dhammapadani,  Theragatha,  Therigatha,  and  those  un- 
mixed (detached)  Gatha  not  comprehended  in  any  of  the 
above-named  Suttanta.' 


^  Revue  Critique,  1870,  p.  378.  ^  D'Alwis,  Pali  Grammar,  p.  61. 


dviii  DHAMMAPADA. 


The  only  way  in  which  Dhammapada  could  be  defended 
in  the  sense  of  '  Collection  of  Verses  of  the  Law,'  would  be 
if  we  took  it  for  an  aggregate  compound.  But  such  aggre- 
gate compounds,  in  Sanskrit  at  least,  are  possible  with 
numerals  only;  for  instance,  tribhuvanam,  the  three 
worlds  ;  ^aturyugam,  the  four  ages^.  It  might  therefore 
be  possible  in  Pali,  too,  to  form  such  compounds  as  dai-a- 
padam,  a  collection  of  ten  padas,  a  work  consisting  often 
padas,  a  decamerone,  but  it  would  in  no  wise  follow  that 
we  could  in  that  language  attempt  such  a  compound  as 
Dhammapadam,  in  order  to  express  a  collection  of  law 
verses^.  Mr.  BeaP  informs  us  that  the  Chinese  seem  to 
have  taken  Dhammapada  in  the  sense  of  '  stanzas  of  law,' 
*  law  texts,'  or  '  scripture  texts.' 

It  should  be  remembered,  also,  that  the  idea  of  repre- 
senting life,  and  particularly  the  life  of  the  faithful,  as  a 
path  of  duty  or  virtue  leading  to  deliverance,  (in  Sanskrit 
dharmapatha,)  is  very  familiar  to  Buddhists.  The  four 
great  truths  of  their  religion  *  consist  in  the  recognition  of 
the  following  principles  :  i.  that  there  is  suffering  ;  2.  that 
there  is  a  cause  of  that  suffering ;  3.  that  such  cause  can  be 
removed  ;  4.  that  there  is  a  way  of  deliverance,  viz.  the 
doctrine  of  Buddha.  This  way  is  the  ash/ahga-marga, 
the  eightfold  way  ^,  taught  by  Buddha,  and  leading  to  Nir- 
vana •^.    The  faithful  advances  on  that  road,  padat  padam, 


*  See  M.  M.'s  Sanskrit  Grammar,  §  519. 

^  Mr.  D'Alwis'  arguments  (Buddhist  Nirvana,  pp.  63-67)  in  support  of  this 
view,  viz.  the  dhammapada  may  be  a  collective  term,  do  not  seem  to  me  to 
strengthen  my  own  conjecture. 

^   Dhammapada  from  Chinese,  p.  4. 

*  Spence  Hardy,  Manual,  p.  496. 

'  Bumouf,  Lotus,  p.  520, '  Ajoutons,  pour  terminer  ce  que  nous  trouvons  a  dire 
sur  le  mot  magga,  quelque  commentaire  qu'on  en  donne  d'ailleurs,  que  suivant 
une  definition  rapportee  par  Turnour,  le  magga  renferme  une  sous-division  que 
Ton  nomme  pa/ipada,  en  Sanscrit  pratipad.  Le  magga,  dit  Turnour,  est  la 
voie  qui  conduit  au>Jibbana,  la  pa/ipada,  litteralement  "la  marche  pas  a  pas, 
ou  le  degre,"  est  la  vie  de  rectitude  qu'on  doit  suivre,  quand  on  marche  dans  la 
voie  du  magga.' 

*  See  Spence  Hardy,  Manual,  p.  496.  Should  not  Aratur\'idha-dharmapada, 
mentioned  on  p.  497,  be  translated  by  '  the  fourfold  path  of  the  Law?'  It  can 
hardly  be  the  fourfold  word  of  the  Law. 


INTRODUCTION.  xlix 


step  by  step,  and  it  is  therefore  called  pa/ipada,  lit.  the  step 
by  step. 

If  we  make  allowance  for  these  ambiguities,  inherent  in 
the  name  of  D  ha  mm  a  pa  da,  we  may  well  understand  how 
the  Buddhists  themselves  play  with  the  word  pada  (see 
V.  45).  Thus  we  read  in  Mr,  Beal's  translation  of  a  Chinese 
version  of  the  Pratimoksha  ^  : 

'  Let  all  those  who  desire  such  birth, 
Who  now  are  living  in  the  world. 
Guard  and  preserve  these  Precepts,  as  feet.' 

Translation. 

In  translating  the  verses  of  the  Dhammapada,  I  have 
followed  the  edition  of  the  Pali  text,  published  in  1855  by 
Dr.  Fausboll,  and  I  have  derived  great  advantage  from  his 
Latin  translation,  his  notes,  and  his  copious  extracts  from 
Buddhaghosa's  commentary.  I  have  also  consulted  trans- 
lations, either  of  the  whole  of  the  Dhammapada,  or  of 
portions  of  it,  by  Burnouf,  Gogerly  ^  Upham,  Weber, 
and  others.  Though  it  will  be  seen  that  in  many  places 
my  translation  differs  from  those  of  my  predecessors, 
I  can  only  claim  for  myself  the  name  of  a  very  humble 
gleaner  in  this  field  of  Pali  literature.  The  greatest 
credit  is  due  to  Dr.  Fausboll,  whose  editio  princeps  of 
the  Dhammapada  will  mark  for  ever  an  important  epoch 
in  the  history  of  Pali  scholarship  ;  and  though  later  critics 
have  been  able  to  point  out  some  mistakes,  both  in  his 
text  and  in  his  translation,  the  value  of  their  labours  is  not 
to  be  compared  with  that  of  the  work  accomplished  single- 
handed  by  that  eminent  Danish  scholar. 

In  revising  my  translation,  first  published  in  1870  3,  for 


^  Catena,  p.  207. 

^  '  Several  of  the  chapters  have  been  translated  by  Mr.  Gogerly,  and  have 
appeared  in  The  Friend,  vol.  iv,  1840.'  (Spence  Hardy,  Eastern  Monachism, 
p.  169.) 

^  Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  translated  from  Burmese  by  Captain  T.  Rogers, 
R.  E.  With  an  Introduction,  containing  Buddha's  Dhammapada,  translated 
from  Pali  by  F.  Max  Miiller.   London,  1870. 

[10]  d 


1  DHAMMAPADA. 


the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  I  have  been  able  to  avail 
myself  of  '  Notes  on  Dhammapada,'  published  by  Childers 
in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  (May,  1871), 
and  of  valuable  hints  as  to  the  meaning  of  certain  words 
and  verses  scattered  about  in  the  Pali  Dictionary  of  that 
much  regretted  scholar,  1875.  I  have  carefully  weighed  the 
remarks  of  Mr.  James  D'Alwis  in  his  '  Buddhist  Nirvawa, 
a  review  of  Max  Miiller's  Dhammapada'  (Colombo,  1871), 
and  accepted  some  of  his  suggestions.  Some  very  suc- 
cessful renderings  of  a  number  of  verses  by  Mr.  Rhys 
Davids  in  his  '  Buddhism,'  and  a  French  translation,  too,  of 
the  Dhammapada,  published  by  Fernand  Hu\  have  been 
consulted  with  advantage. 

It  was  hoped  for  a  time  that  much  assistance  for  a  more 
accurate  understanding  of  this  work  might  be  derived  from 
a  Chinese  translation  of  the  Dhammapada  ^,  of  which 
Mr.  S.  Beal  published  an  English  translation  in  1878. 
But  this  hope  has  not  been  entirely  fulfilled.  It  was^ 
no  doubt,  a  discovery  of  great  interest,  when  Mr.  Beal 
announced  that  the  text  of  the  Dhammapada  was  not 
restricted  to  the  southern  Buddhists  only,  but  that  similar 
collections  existed  in  the  north,  and  had  been  translated 
into  Chinese.  It  was  equally  important  when  Schiefner 
proved  the  existence  of  the  same  work  in  the  sacred  canon 
of  the  Tibetans.  But  as  yet  neither  a  Chinese  nor  a  Tibetan 
translation  of  the  Pali  Dhammapada  has  been  rendered 
accessible  to  us  by  translations  of  these  translations  into 
English  or  German,  and  what  we  have  received  instead, 
cannot  make  up  for  what  we  had  hoped  for. 

The  state  of  the  case  is  this.  There  are,  as  Mr,  Beal 
informs  us,  four  principal  copies  of  what  may  be  called 
Dhammapada  in  Chinese,  the  first  dating  from  the  Wu 
dynasty,  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  A.D. 
This   translation,  called  Fa-kheu-king,  is   the    work   of  a 


*  Le  Dhammapada  avec  introduction  et  notes  par  Fernand  Hd,  suivi  du 
Sutra  en  42  articles,  traduit  du  Tibetain,  par  Leon  Feer.    Paris,  1878. 

*  Texts  from  the  Buddhist  Canon,  commonly  known  as  Dhammapada,  trans- 
lated from  the  Chinese  by  Samuel  Beal.    London,  187S. 


INTRODUCTION.  U 


Shaman  Wei-/^i-lan  and  others.  Its  title  means  '  the  Sutra 
of  Law  verses,'  kheu  being  explained  by  gat  ha,  a  verse, 
a  word  which  we  shall  meet  with  again  in  the  Tibetan 
title,  Gathasahgraha.  In  the  preface  the  Chinese  translator 
states  that  the  Shamans  in  after  ages  copied  from  the 
canonical  scriptures  various  gathas,  some  of  four  lines  and 
some  of  six,  and  attached  to  each  set  of  verses  a  title, 
according  to  the  subject  therein  explained.  This  work  of 
extracting  and  collecting  is  ascribed  to  Tsun-/^e-Fa-kieou, 
i.  e.  Arya-Dharmatrata,  the  author  of  the  Sawyuktabhi- 
dharma-i-astra  and  other  works,  and  the  uncle  ofVasumitra. 
If  this  Vasumitra  was  the  patriarch  who  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  Council  under  Kanishka,  Dharmatrata's  col- 
lection would  belong  to  the  first  century  B.C. ;  but  this  is,  as 
yet,  very  doubtful. 

In  the  preface  to  the  Fa-kheu-king  we  are  told  that  the 
original,  which  consisted  of  500  verses,  was  brought  from 
India  by  Wai-/^i-lan  in  223  A.D.,  and  that  it  was  translated 
into  Chinese  with  the  help  of  another  Indian  called  Tsiang- 
sin.  After  the  translation  was  finished,  thirteen  sections 
were  added,  making  up  the  whole  to  753  verses,  I4)5^° 
words,  and  39  chapters  ^. 

If  the  Chinese  translation  is  compared  with  the  Pali 
text,  it  appears  that  the  two  agree  from  the  9th  to  the 
35th  chapter  (with  the  exception  of  the  33rd),  so  far  as 
their  subjects  are  concerned,  though  the  Chinese  has  in 
these  chapters  79  verses  more  than  the  Pali.  But 
the  Chinese  translation  has  eight  additional  chapters  in 
the  beginning  (viz.  On  Intemperance,  Inciting  to  Wisdom, 
The  vSravaka,  Simple  Faith,  Observance  of  Duty,  Re- 
flection, Loving-kindness,  Conversation),  and  four  at  the 
end  (viz.  'Nirvana.,  Birth  and  Death,  Profit  of  Religion, 
and  Good  Fortune),  and  one  between  the  24th  and  25th 
chapter  of  the  Pali  text  (viz.  Advantageous  Service),  all  of 
which  are  absent  in  our  Pali  texts.    This,  the  most  ancient 


^  Eeal,  Dhammapada,  p.  30.  The  real  number  of  verses,  however,  is  760.  In 
the  Pali  text,  too,  there  are  five  verses  more  than  stated  in  the  Index ;  see 
M.  M.,  Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  p.  ix,  note;  Beal,  loc.cit.  p.  11,  note. 

d    2 


lii  DHAMMArADA. 


Chinese  translation  of  Dharmatrata's  work,  has  not  been 
rendered  into  English  by  Mr.  Beal,  but  he  assures  us  that 
it  is  a  faithful  reproduction  of  the  original.  The  book  which 
he  has  chosen  for  translation  is  the  Fa-kheu-pi-ii,  i.  e. 
parables  connected  with  the  Dhammapada,  and  translated 
into  Chinese  by  two  Shamans  of  the  western  Tsin  dynasty 
(a.d.  265-313).  These  parables  are  meant  to  illustrate  the 
teaching  of  the  verses,  like  the  parables  of  Buddhaghosa, 
but  they  are  not  the  same  parables,  nor  do  they  illustrate 
all  the  verses. 

A  third  Chinese  version  is  called  TTuh-yan-king,  i.  e.  the 
Sutra  of  the  Dawn  (avadana?),  consisting  of  seven  volumes. 
Its  author  was  Dharmatrata,  its  translator  ATu-fo-nien  (Bud- 
dhasmnti),  about  410  A.D.  The  MS.  of  the  work  is  said 
to  have  been  brought  from  India  by  a  Shaman  Sangha- 
bhadaiiga  of  Kipin  (Cabul),  about  345  A.D.  It  is  a  much 
more  extensive  work  in  ;^^  chapters,  the  last  being,  as  in 
the  Pali  text,  on  the  Brahma7^a. 

A  fourth  translation  dates  from  the  Sung  dynasty  (800 
or  900  A.  D.),  and  in  it,  too,  the  authorship  of  the  text  is 
ascribed  to  Arya- Dharmatrata. 

A  Tibetan  translation  of  a  Dhammapada  was  dis- 
covered by  Schiefner  in  the  28th  volume  of  the  Sutras, 
in  the  collection  called  Udanavarga.  It  contains  33 
chapters,  and  more  than  1000  verses,  of  which  about  one- 
fourth  only  can  be  traced  in  the  Pali  text.  The  same 
collection  is  found  also  in  the  Tan^r,  vol.  71  of  the  Sutras, 
foil.  1-53,  followed  by  a  commentary,  the  Udanavarga- 
vivara;/a  by  the  AMrya  Pra^/7avarman.  Unfortunately 
Schiefner's  intention  of  publishing  a  translation  of  it  (Me- 
langes Asiatiques,  tom.  viii.  p.  560)  has  been  frustrated  by 
his  death.  All  that  he  gives  us  in  his  last  paper  is  the 
Tibetan  text  with  translation  of  another  shorter  collection, 
the  Gathasaiigraha  by  Vasubandhu,  equally  published  in 
the  72nd  volume  of  the  Sutras  in  the  Tan^ur,  and  accom- 
panied by  a  commentary. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Spelling  of  Buddhist  Terms. 

I  had  on  a  former  occasion  ^  pleaded  so  strongly  in 
favour  of  retaining,  as  much  as  possible,  the  original  San- 
skrit forms  of  Pali  Buddhist  terms,  that  I  feel  bound  to 
confess  openly  that  I  hold  this  opinion  no  longer,  or,  at  all 
events,  that  I  see  it  is  hopeless  to  expect  that  Pali  scholars 
will  accept  my  proposal.  My  arguments  were  these  :  '  Most 
of  the  technical  terms  employed  by  Buddhist  writers  come 
from  Sanskrit ;  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  philologist  the  various 
forms  which  they  have  assumed  in  Pali,  in  Burmese,  in 
Tibetan,  in  Chinese,  in  Mongolian,  are  only  so  many  corrup- 
tions of  the  same  original  form.  Everything,  therefore, 
would  seem  to  be  in  favour  of  retaining  the  Sanskrit  forms 
throughout,  and  of  writing,  for  instance,  Nirvana  instead  of 
the  Pali  Nibbana,  the  Burmese  Niban  or  Nepbhan,  the 
Siamese  Niruphan,  the  Chinese  Nipan.  The  only  hope,  in 
fact,  that  writers  on  Buddhism  will  ever  arrive  at  a  uniform 
and  generally  intelligible  phraseology  seems  to  He  in  their 
agreeing  to  use  throughout  the  Sanskrit  terms  in  their 
original  form,  instead  of  the  various  local  disguises  and 
disfigurements  which  they  present  in  Ceylon,  Burmah,  Siam, 
Tibet,  China,  and  Mongolia.' 

I  fully  admitted  that  many  Buddhist  words  have  assumed 
such  a  strongly  marked  local  or  national  character  in  the 
different  countries  and  in  the  different  languages  in  which 
the  religion  of  Buddha  has  found  a  new  home,  that  to  trans- 
late them  back  into  Sanskrit  might  seem  as  affected,  nay, 
prove  in  certain  cases  as  misleading,  as  if,  in  speaking  of 
priests  and  kings,  we  were  to  speak  of  presbyters  and 
cynings.  The  rule  by  which  I  meant  mainly  to  be  guided 
was  to  use  the  Sanskrit  forms  as  much  as  possible  ;  in  fact, 
everywhere  except  where  it  seemed  affected  to  do  so. 
I  therefore  wrote  Buddhaghosha  instead  of  the  Pali  Bud- 
dhaghosa,  because  the  name  of  that  famous  theologian,  'the 
Voice  of  Buddha,'  seemed  to  lose  its  significance  if  turned 


^  Introduction  to  Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  1870,  p.  1. 


llV  DHAMMAPADA. 


into  Buddhaghosa.  But  I  was  well  aware  what  may  be 
said  on  the  other  side.  The  name  of  Buddhaghosa, '  Voice 
of  Buddha,'  was  given  him  after  he  had  been  converted 
from  Brahmanism  to  Buddhism,  and  it  was  given  to  him 
by  people  to  whom  the  Pali  word  ghosa  conveyed  the 
same  meaning  as  ghosha  does  to  us.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  retained  the  Pali  Dhammapada  instead  of  Dharmapada, 
simply  because,  as  the  title  of  a  Pali  book,  it  has  become  so 
familiar  that  to  speak  of  it  as  Dharmapada  seemed  like 
speaking  of  another  work.  We  are  accustomed  to  speak 
of  Samanas  instead  of  5rama;/as,  for  even  in  the  days  of 
Alexander's  conquest,  the  Sanskrit  word  vSrama;/a  had 
assumed  the  prakritized  or  vulgar  form  which  we  find  in 
Pali,  and  which  alone  could  have  been  rendered  by  the 
later  Greek  writers  (first  by  Alexander  Polyhistor,  80-60 
B.C.)  by  (TajxavoLoi^.  As  a  Buddhist  term,  the  Pali  form 
Samana  has  so  entirely  supplanted  that  of  vSrama7/a  that, 
even  in  the  Dhammapada  (v.  388),  we  find  an  etymology 
of  Samana  as  derived  from  sam,  'to  be  quiet,'  and  not  from 
jram,  '  to  toil.'  But  if  we  speak  of  Samanas,  we  ought  also 
to  speak  of  Bahmawas  instead  of  Brahmawas,  for  this  word 
had  been  replaced  by  bahma/za  at  so  early  a  time,  that  in 
the  Dhammapada  it  is  derived  from  a  root  vah, '  to  remove, 
to  separate,  to  cleanse  '^.' 

I  still  believe  that  it  would  be  best  if  writers  on  Buddhist 
literature  and  religion  were  to  adopt  Sanskrit  throughout 
as  the  lingua  franca.  For  an  accurate  understanding  of 
the  original  meaning  of  most  of  the  technical  terms  of 
Buddhism  a  knowledge  of  their  Sanskrit  form  is  indispen- 
sable ;  and  nothing  is  lost,  while  much  would  be  gained,  if, 
even  in  the  treating  of  southern   Buddhism,  we  were   to 


'  See  Lassen,  Indische  Alterthumskunde,  vol.  ii.  p.  700,  note.  That  Lassen 
is  right  in  taking  the  'S.apixavai,  mentioned  by  Megasthenes,  for  Brahmanic,  not 
for  Buddhist  ascetics,  might  be  proved  also  by  their  dress.  Dresses  made  of 
the  bark  of  trees  are  not  strictly  Buddhistic. 

^  See  Dhammapada,  v.  388  ;  Bastian,  Vdlker  des  ostlichen  Asien,  vol.  iii. 
p.  412:  'Ein  buddhistischer  Monch  erklarte  mir,  dass  die  Brahmanen  ihren 
Namen  fuhrten,  als  Leute,  die  ihre  Siinden  abgespiilt  hiitten.'  See  also  Lalita- 
vistara,  p.  551,  line  i ;  p.  553,  line  7. 


INTRODUCTION.  Iv 


speak  of  the  town  of  .Sravasti  instead  of  Savatthi  in  Pali, 
Sevet  in  Sinhalese  ;  of  Tripi/aka,  'the  three  baskets,'  instead 
ofTipi/aka  in  Pali,  Tunpitaka  in  Sinhalese;  of  Arthakatha, 
'commentary,'  instead  of  A////akatha  in  Pali,  Atuwava  in 
Sinhalese  ;  and  therefore  also  of  Dharmapada, '  the  path  of 
virtue,^  instead  of  Dhammapada. 

But    inclinations    are    stronger    than    arguments.     Pali 
scholars  prefer  their  Pali  terms,  and  I  cannot  blame  them 
for  it.     Mr.  D'Alwis  (Buddhist  Nirvana,  p.  68)  says  :  '  It 
will  be  seen  how  very  difficult  it  is  to  follow  the  rule  rigidly. 
We  are,  therefore,  inclined  to  believe  that  in  translating  Pali 
works,  at  least,  much  inconvenience  may  not  be  felt  by  the 
retention  of  the  forms  of  the  language  in  which  the  Buddhist 
doctrines  were  originally  delivered.'     For  the  sake  of  uni- 
formity, therefore,  I  have  given  up  my  former  plan.     I  use 
the  Pali  forms  when  I  quote  from  Pali,  but  I  still  prefer  the 
Sanskrit  forms,  not  only  when  I  quote  from  Sanskrit  Bud- 
dhist books,  but  also  when  I  have  to  speak  of  Buddhism  in 
general.     I  speak  of  Nirvana,  dharma,  and  bhikshu,  rather 
than  of  Nibbana,  dhamma,  and  bhikkhu,  when  discussing  the 
meaning  of  these  words  without  special  reference  to  southern 
Buddhism  ;  but  when  treating  of  the  literature  and  religion 
of  the  Theravada  school  I  must  so  far  yield  to  the  argu- 
ments of  Pali  scholars  as  to  admit  that  it  is  but  fair  to 
use  their  language  when  speaking  of  their  opinions. 


DHAMMAPADA. 


DHAM  MA  PA  DA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE     TWIN-VERSES. 

I.  All  that  we  are  is  the  result  of  what  we  have 
thought  :  it  is  founded  on  our  thoughts,  it  is  made 
up  of  our  thoughts.  If  a  man  speaks  or  acts  with 
an  evil  thought,  pain  follows  him,  as  the  wheel  fol- 
lows the  foot  of  the  ox  that  draws  the  carriage. 

I.  Dharma,  though  clear  in  its  meaning,  is  difficult  to  translate. 
It  has  different  meanings  in  different  systems  of  philosophy,  and  its 
peculiar  application  in  the  phraseology  of  Buddhism  has  been  fully 
elucidated  by  Burnouf,  Introduction  a  I'Histoire  du  Buddhisme, 
p.  41  seq.  He  writes:  'Je  traduis  ordinairement  ce  terme  par 
condition,  d'autres  fois  par  lois,  mais  aucune  de  ces  traductions 
n'est  parfaitement  complete;  il  faut  entendre  par  dharma  ce  qui 
fait  qu'une  chose  est  ce  qu'elle  est,  ce  qui  constitue  sa  nature 
propre,  comme  Fa  bien  montr^  Lassen,  a  I'occasion  de  la  celebre 
formule,  "  Ye  dharma  hetuprabhava."  '  Etymological ly  the  Latin 
for-ma  expresses  the  same  general  idea  which  was  expressed  by 
dhar-ma.  See  also  Burnouf,  Lotus  de  la  bonne  Loi,  p.  524.  Faus- 
boU  translates :  '  Naturae  a  mente  principium  ducunt,'  which 
shows  that  he  rightly  understood  dharma  in  the  Buddhist  sense. 
Gogerly  (see  Spence  Hardy,  Eastern  Monachism,  p.  28)  translates  : 
'  Mind  precedes  action,'  which,  if  not  wrong,  is  at  all  events  Avrongly 
expressed  ;  while  Professor  Weber's  rendering,  '  Die  Pflichten  aus 
dem  Herz  folgern,'  is  quite  inadmissible.  D'Alwis  (Buddhist  Nir- 
wana,  p.  70  seq.),  following  the  commentary,  proposes  to  give  a 
more  technical  interpretation  of  this  verse,  viz.  '  Mind  is  the  leader 
of  all  its  faculties.  Mind  is  the  chief  (of  all  its  faculties).  The  very 
mind  is  made  up  of  those  (faculties).  If  one  speaks  or  acts  with  a 
polluted  mind,  then  affliction  follows  him  as  the  wheel  follows  the 
feet  of  the  bearer  (the  bullock).'     To  me  this  technical  acceptation 


DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  I. 


2.  All  that  we  are  is  the  result  of  what  we  have 
thought :  it  is  founded  on  our  thoughts,  it  is  made 
up  of  our  thoughts.  If  a  man  speaks  or  acts  with  a 
pure  thought,  happiness  follows  him,  like  a  shadow 
that  never  leaves  him. 

3.  '  He  abused  me,  he  beat  me,  he  defeated  me, 
he  robbed  me,' — in  those  who  harbour  such  thoughts 
hatred  will  never  cease. 

4.  'He  abused  me,  he  beat  me,  he  defeated  me, 
he  robbed  me,' — in  those  who  do  not  harbour  such 
thoughts  hatred  will  cease. 

seems  not  applicable  here,  where  we  have  to  deal  with  the  simplest 
moral  precepts,  and  not  with  psychological  niceties  of  Buddhist 
philosophy.  It  should  be  stated,  however,  that  Childers,  who  first 
(s.v.  dhamma)  approved  of  my  translation,  seems  afterwards  to  have 
changed  his  opinion.  On  p.  120  of  his  excellent  Pali  Dictionary 
he  said :  '  Three  of  the  five  khandhas,  viz.  vedana,  safwla,  and  sah- 
khara,  are  collectively  termed  dhamma  (plur.),  "  mental  faculties," 
and  in  the  first  verse  of  Dhammapada  the  commentator  takes  the 
word  dhamma  to  mean  those  three  faculties.  But  this  interpretation 
appears  forced  and  unnatural,  and  I  look  upon  Dr.  Max  Miiller's 
translation,  "  All  that  we  are  is  the  result  of  what  we  have  thought," 
as  the  best  possible  rendering  of  the  spirit  of  the  phrase  mano  pub- 
bahgama  dhamma.'  But  on  p.  57 7  the  same  scholar  writes :  'Of 
the  four  mental  khandhas  the  superiority  of  vii^ila/za  is  strongly 
asserted  in  the  first  verse  of  Dhammapada,  "  The  mental  faculties 
(vedana,  sa?~w1a,  and  sahkhara)  are  dominated  by  IMind,  they  are 
governed  by  Mind,  they  are  made  up  of  Mind."  That  this  is  the 
true  meaning  of  the  passage  I  am  now  convinced  ;  see  D'Alwis,  Nir- 
wana,  pp.  70-75.'  I  do  not  deny  that  this  may  have  been  the  tra- 
ditional interpretation,  at  all  events  since  the  days  of  Buddhaghosa, 
but  the  very  legend  quoted  by  Buddhaghosa  in  illustration  of  this 
verse  shows  that  its  simpler  and  purely  moral  interpretation  was 
likewise  supported  by  tradition,  and  I  therefore  adhere  to  my 
original  translation. 

2.  See  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  169. 

3.  On  akkoM/ii,  see  KaMayana  VI,  4, 1 7.  D'Alwis,  Pali  Grammar, 
p.  38  note.  *  When  akkoX'X'//i  means  "  he  abused,"  it  is  derived 
from  kruj,  not  from  krudh.'     See  Senart,  Ka/^Hyana,  1.  c. 


TWIN-VERSES. 


,■-=?  5.   For  hatred  does  not  cease  by  hatred  at  any 
time :  hatred  ceases  by  love,  this  is  an  old  rule. 

6.  The  world  does  not  know  that  we  must  all 
come  to  an  end  here  ; — but  those  who  know  it,  their 
quarrels  cease  at  once. 

7.  He  who  lives  looking  for  pleasures  only,  his 
senses  uncontrolled,  immoderate  in  his  food,  idle, 
and  weak,  Mara  (the  tempter)  will  certainly  over- 
throw him,  as  the  wind  throws  down  a  weak  tree. 

8.  He  who  lives  without  looking  for  pleasures, 
his  senses  well  controlled,  moderate  in  his  food, 
faithful  and  strong,  him  Mara  will  certainly  not 
overthrow,  any  more  than  the  wind  throws  down 
a  rocky  mountain. 

9.  He  who  wishes  to  put  on  the  yellow  dress 
without  having  cleansed  himself  from  sin,  who  dis- 
regards also  temperance  and  truth,  is  unworthy  of 
the  yellow  dress, 

6.  Pare  is  explained  by  '  fools,'  but  it  has  that  meaning  by- 
implication  only.  It  is  ol  woWoi,  of.  Vinaya,  ed.  Oldenberg,  vol.  i. 
p.  5,  1.  4.  Yamamase,  a  i  pers.  plur.  imp.  Atm.,  but  really  a  Le/ 
in  Pali.     See  Fausboll,  Five  (ratakas,  p.  38. 

7.  Mara  must  be  taken  in  the  Buddhist  sense  of '  tempter,'  or 
'evil  spirit.'  See  Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  76  :  '  Mara  est  le  demon 
de  I'amour,  du  p6ch6  at  de  la  mort ;  c'est  le  tentateur  et  I'ennemi 
de  Buddha.'  As  to  the  definite  meaning  of  virya,  see  Burnouf, 
Lotus,  p.  548. 

In  the  Buddhistical  Sanskrit,  kusida,  *  idle,'  is  the  exact  counter- 
part of  the  Pali  kusita  ;  see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  548.  On  the  change 
of  Sanskrit  d  into  Pali  t,  see  Kuhn,  Beitrage  zur  Pali  Grammatik, 
p.  40;  Weber,  Ind.  Studien,  XIII,  p.  135. 

9.  The  dark  yellow  dress,  the  Kasava  or  Kashaya,  is  the  dis- 
tinctive garment  of  the  Buddhist  priests.  See  Vishwu-sfitra  LXIII, 
36.  The  play  on  the  words  anikkasavo  kasavam,  or  in  Sanskrit 
anishkashaya//  kashayam,  cannot  be  rendered  in  English.  Kashaya 
means  '  impurity,'  nish-kashaya, '  free  from  impurity,'  anish-kashaya, 
'  not  free  from  impurity,'  while  kashaya  is  the  name  of  the  yellowish 


DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  I. 


10.  But  he  who  has  cleansed  himself  from  sin,  is 
well  grounded  in  all  virtues,  and  regards  also  tem- 
perance and  truth,  he  is  indeed  worthy  of  the  yellow 
dress. 

11.  They  who  imagine  truth  in  untruth,  and  see 
untruth  in  truth,  never  arrive  at  truth,  but  follow 
vain  desires. 

12.  They  who  know  truth  in  truth,  and  untruth 
in  untruth,  arrive  at  truth,  and  follow  true  desires. 

13.  As  rain  breaks  through  an  ill-thatched  house, 
passion  will  break  through  an  unreflecting  mind. 

1 4.  As  rain  does  not  break  through  a  well- thatched 
house,  passion  will  not  break  through  a  well-reflecting 
mind. 

15.  The  evil-doer  mourns  in  this  world,  and  he 

Buddhist  garment.     The  pun  is  evidently  a  favourite  one,  for,  as 
FausboU  shows,  it  occurs  also  in  the  Mahabharata,  XII,  568 : 
Anishkashaye  kashayam  ihartham  iti  viddhi  tam, 
Dharmadhva^ana/w  munda,nam  vrzltyartham  iti  me  mati^. 
'  Know  that  this  yellow-coloured  garment  on  a  man  who  is  not  free 
from  impurity,  serves  only  for  the  purpose  of  cupidity ;  my  opinion 
is,  that  it  is  meant  to  supply  the  means  of  living  to  those  shavelings, 
who  carry  their  virtue  or  the  dharma  like  a  flag.' 

(I  read  vnttyartham,  according  to  the  Bombay  edition,  instead  of 
kr/tartham,  the  reading  of  the  Calcutta  edition.) 

On  the  exact  colour  of  the  dress,  see  Bishop  Bigandet,  The  Life 
or  Legend  of  Gaudama,  the  Budha  of  the  Burmese,  Rangoon,  1866, 
p.  504.     Cf.  Gataka,  vol.  ii.  p.  198. 

10.  With  regard  to  sila, '  virtue,'  see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  547. 

11,  12.  Sara,  which  I  have  translated  by  '  truth,'  has  many  mean- 
ings in  Sanskrit.  It  means  the  sap  of  a  thing,  then  essence  or 
reality ;  in  a  metaphysical  sense,  the  highest  reality ;  in  a  moral 
sense,  truth.  It  is  impossible  in  a  translation  to  do  more  than  indi- 
cate the  meaning  of  such  words,  and  in  order  to  understand  them 
fully,  we  must  know  not  only  their  definition,  but  their  history.  See 
Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  64. 

13.  See  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  65. 

15.  Kili//y^a  is  klish/a,  a  participle  of  klij.     It  means  literally, 


TWIN-VERSES. 


mourns  in  the  next ;  he  mourns  in  both.    He  mourns 
and  suffers  when  he  sees  the  evil  of  his  own  work. 

1 6.  The  virtuous  man  dehghts  in  this  world,  and 
he  delights  in  the  next ;  he  delights  in  both.  He 
delights  and  rejoices,  when  he  sees  the  purity  of  his 
own  work. 

17.  The  evil-doer  suffers  in  this  world,  and  he 
suffers  in  the  next;  he  suffers  in  both.  He  suffers 
when  he  thinks  of  the  evil  he  has  done ;  he  suffers 
more  when  going  on  the  evil  path. 

t8.  The  virtuous  man  is  happy  in  this  world, 
and  he  is  happy  in  the  next ;  he  is  happy  in  both. 
He  is  happy  when  he  thinks  of  the  good  he  has 
done ;  he  is  still  more  happy  when  going  on  the 
good  path. 

19.  The  thoughtless  man,  even  if  he  can  recite 
a  large  portion  (of  the  law),  but  is  not  a  doer  of 
it,  has  no  share  in  the  priesthood,  but  is  like  a 
cowherd  counting  the  cows  of  others. 

what  is  spoilt.     The  abstract  noun  klei-a, '  evil  or  sin,'  is  constantly 
employed  in  Buddhist  works;  see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  443. 

16.  Like  klish/a  in  the  preceding  verse,  vijuddhi  in  the  present 
has  a  technical  meaning.  One  of  Buddhaghosa's  most  famous 
works  is  called  Visuddhi-magga.  See  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  844; 
Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  67. 

17,  18.  'The  evil  path  and  the  good  path'  are  technical  expres- 
sions for  the  descending  and  ascending  scale  of  worlds  through 
which  all  beings  have  to  travel  upward  or  downward,  according  to 
their  deeds;  see  Bigandet,  Life  of  Gaudama,  p.  5,  note  4,  and 
p.  449;  Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  599;  Lotus,  p.  865,  1.  7  ;  1.  11. 
Fausboll  translates  '  heaven  and  hell,'  which  comes  to  the  same ; 
cf.  vv.  126,  306. 

19.  In  taking  sahitam  in  the  sense  of  sawzhitam  or  sa^/^hita,  I  fol- 
low the  commentator  who  says,  Tepi/akassa  Buddhava/^anass'  etaw 
namaffz,  but  I  cannot  find  another  passage  where  the  Tipi/aka,  or 
any  portion  of  it,  is  called  Sahita.  Sawhita  in  vv.  100-102  has 
a  different  meaning.    The  fact  that  some  followers  of  Buddha  were 


8  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  I. 

20.  The  follower  of  the  law,  even  if  he  can  recite 
only  a  small  portion  (of  the  law),  but,  having  for- 
saken passion  and  hatred  and  foolishness,  possesses 
true  knowledge  and  serenity  of  mind,  he,  caring 
for  nothing  in  this  world  or  that  to  come,  has  in- 
deed a  share  in  the  priesthood. 

allowed  to  learn  short  portions  only  of  the  sacred  writings  by  heart, 
and  to  repeat  them,  while  others  had  to  learn  a  larger  collection,  is 
shown  by  the  story  of  A'akkhupala,  p.  3,  of  Mahakala,  p.  26,  &c. 
See  Childers,  s.  v.  sahita. 

20.  Samai^wa,  which  I  have  rendered  by  '  priesthood,'  expresses 
all  that  belongs  to,  or  constitutes  a  real  Sama«a  or -Srama^^a,  this  being 
the  Buddhist  name  corresponding  to  the  Brahmawa,  or  priest,  of 
the  orthodox  Hindus.  Buddha  himself  is  frequently  called  the 
Good  Sama«a.  FausboU  takes  the  abstract  word  sama?l?la  as 
corresponding  to  the  Sanskrit  samanya,  *  community,'  but  Weber 
has  well  shown  that  it  ought  to  be  taken  as  representing  jramawya. 
He  might  have  quoted  the  Sama?l«a-phala-sutta,  of  which  Burnouf 
has  given  such  interesting  details  in  his  Lotus,  p.  449  seq.  Faus- 
boU also,  in  his  notes  on  v.  332,  rightly  explains  sama?mata  by 
jramawyata.     See  Childers,  s.  v.  saman?l.a. 

Anupadiyano,  which  I  have  translated  by  '  caring  for  nothing,' 
has  a  technical  meaning.  It  is  the  negative  of  the  fourth  Nidana, 
the  so-called  Upadana,  which  Koppen  has  well  explained  by 
Anhanglichkeit, '  taking  to  the  world,  loving  the  world.'  Koppen, 
Die  Religion  des  Buddha,  p.  610.     Cf.  Suttanipata,  v.  470. 


EARNESTNESS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ON     EARNESTNESS^ 

21.  Earnestness  is  the  path  of  immortality  (Nir- 
vi/^a),  thoughtlessiiess  the  path  of  death.  Those 
who  are  in  earnest  do  not  die,  those  who  are 
thoughtless  are  as  if  dead  already, 

2  2.  Those  who  are  advanced  in  earnestness, 
having  understood  this  clearly,  delight  in  earnest- 
ness, and  rejoice  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Ariyas 
(the  elect). 

23.  These  wise  people,  meditative,  steady,  always 
possessed  of  strong  powers,  attain  to  Nirva/za,  the 
highest  happiness. 

^  There  is  nothing  in  the  tenth  section  of  the  Dhammapada,  as 
translated  by  Beal,  corresponding  to  the  verses  of  this  chapter. 

21.  Apramada,  which  FausboU  translates  by  'vigilantia,'  Gogerly 
by  '  religion,'  Childers  by  '  diligence,'  expresses  literally  the  absence 
of  that  giddiness  or  thoughdessness  which  characterizes  the  state  of 
mind  of  worldly  people.  It  is  the  first  entering  into  oneself,  and 
hence  all  virtues  are  said  to  have  their  root  in  apramada.  (Ye  ke^i 
kusala  dhamma  sabbe  te  appamadamulaka.)  I  have  translated  it 
by  '  earnestness,'  sometimes  by  '  reflection.'  '  Immortality,'  amr/ta, 
is  explained  by  Buddhaghosa  as  Nirvawa.  Amn'ta  is  used,  no 
doubt,  as  a  synonym  of  Nirva;/a,  but  this  very  fact  shows  how  many 
different  conceptions  entered  from  the  very  first  into  the  Nirvawa 
of  the  Buddhists.     See  Childers,  s.  v.  nibbana,  p.  269. 

This  verse,  as  recited  to  Ajoka,  occurs  in  the  Dipavawisa  VI, 
53,  and  in  the  Mahavaz?2sa,  p.  25.  See  also  Sanatsu^atiya,  translated 
by  Telang,  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vol.  viii.  p.  138. 

22.  The  Ariyas,  the  noble  or  elect,  are  those  who  have  entered 
on  the  path  that  leads  to  Nirvawa  ;  see  Koppen,  p.  396.  Their 
knowledge  and  general  status  is  minutely  described  ;   see  Koppen, 

P-  436. 

23.  Childers,  s.  v.  nibbana,  thinks  that  nibbana  here  and  in 
many  other  places  means  Arhatship. 

[10]  e 


lO  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.   II. 

24.  If  an  earnest  person  has  roused  himself,  if 
he  is  not  forgetful,  if  his  deeds  are  pure,  if  he 
acts  with  consideration,  if  he  restrains  himself,  and 
lives  according  to  law, — then  his  glory  will  increase. 

25.  By  rousing  himself,  by  earnestness,  by  restraint 
and  control,  the  wise  man  may  make  for  himself 
an  island  which  no  flood  can  overwhelm. 

26.  Fools  follow  after  vanity,  men  of  evil  wis- 
dom. The  wise  man  keeps  earnestness  as  his  best 
jewel. 

27.  Follow  not  after  vanity,  nor  after  the  enjoy- 
ment of  love  and  lust !  He  who  is  earnest  and 
meditative,  obtains  ample  joy. 

28.  When  the  learned  man  drives  away  vanity 
by  earnestness,  he,  the  wise,  climbing  the  terraced 
heights  of  wisdom,  looks  down  upon  the  fools, 
serene  he  looks  upon  the  toiling  crowd,  as  one 
that  stands  on  a  mountain  looks  down  upon  them 
that  stand  upon  the  plain. 

29.  Earnest  among  the  thoughtless,  awake  among 
the  sleepers,  the  wise  man  advances  like  a  racer, 
leaving  behind  the  hack. 

30.  By  earnestness  did  Maghavan  (Indra)  rise 
to  the  lordship  of  the  gods.  People  praise  earnest- 
ness ;    thoughtlessness  is  always  blamed. 

31.  A  Bhikshu  (mendicant)  who  delights  in 
earnestness,  who   looks    with    fear   on  thoughtless- 


25.  Childers  explains  this  island  again  as  the  state  of  an  Arhat 
(arahatta-phalam). 

28.  Cf.  Childers,  Dictionary,  Preface,  p.  xiv.  See  Vinaya,  ed. 
Oldenberg,  vol.  i.  p.  5,  s.  f. 

31.  Instead  of  sahaw,  which  Dr.  Fausboll  translates  by  *  vin- 
cens,'  Dr.  Weber  by  '  conquering,'  I  think  we  ought  to  read  </ahan, 
'  burning,'  which  was  evidently  the  reading  adopted  by  Buddha- 


EARNESTNESS.  I  I 


ness,  moves  about  like  fire,  burning  all  his  fetters, 
small  or  large. 

32.  A  Bhikshu  (mendicant)  who  delights  in 
reflection,  who  looks  with  fear  on  thoughtlessness, 
cannot  fall  away  (from  his  perfect  state) — he  is  close 
upon  Nirva/^a. 

ghosa.    Mr.  R.  C.  Childers,  whom  I  requested  to  see  whether  the 
MS.  at  the  India  Office   gives  saham  or  da.ha.?n,  writes  that  the 
reading  daham  is  as  clear  as  possible  in  that  MS.     The  fetters  are 
meant  for  the  senses.     See  verse  370. 
32.  See  Childers,  Notes,  p.  5. 


e  2 


12  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  III. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THOUGHT. 


33.  As  a  fletcher  makes  straight  his  arrow,  a 
wise  man  makes  straight  his  trembHng  and  un- 
steady thought,  which  is  difficult  to  guard,  difficuh 
to  hold  back, 

34.  As  a  fish  taken  from  his  watery  home  and 
thrown  on  the  dry  ground,  our  thought  trembles 
all  over  in  order  to  escape  the  dominion  of  Mara 
(the  tempter). 

35.  It  is  good  to  tame  the  mind,  which  is  difficult 
to  hold  in  and  flighty,  rushing  wherever  it  listeth  ; 
a  tamed  mind  brings  happiness. 

36.  Let  the  wise  man  guard  his  thoughts,  for 
they  are  difficult  to  perceive,  very  artful,  and  they 
rush  wherever  they  list :  thoughts  well  guarded 
bring  happiness. 

37.  Those  who  bridle  their  mind  which  travels 
far,  moves  about  alone,  is  without  a  body,  and  hides 
in  the  chamber  (of  the  heart),  will  be  free  from 
the  bonds  of  Mara  (the  tempter). 

38.  If  a  man's  thoughts  are  unsteady,  if  he  does 
not  know  the  true  law,  if  his  peace  of  mind  is 
troubled,  his  knowledge  will  never  be  perfect, 

39.  If  a    man's    thoughts    are    not  dissipated,    if 


33.  Cf.  Gataka,  vol.  i.  p.  400. 

34.  On  Mara,  see  verses  7  and  8. 
35-39.  Cf.  Gataka,  vok  i.  pp.  312,  400. 

39.  FausboU  traces  anavassuta,  'dissipated,'  back  to  the  Sanskrit 


THOUGHT. 


his  mind  is  not  perplexed,  if  he  has  ceased  to  think 
of  good  or  evil,  then  there  is  no  fear  for  him  while 
he  is  watchful. 


root  jyai,  'to  become  rigid;'  but  the  participle  of  that  root  would 
be  jita,  not  j'yuta.  Professor  Weber  suggests  that  anavassuta  stands 
for  the  Sanskrit  anavasruta,  which  he  translates  unbefleckt,  '  un- 
spotted.' If  avasruta  were  the  right  word,  it  might  be  taken  in  the 
sense  of '  not  fallen  off,  not  fallen  away,'  but  it  could  not  mean 
*  unspotted ; '  cf.  dhairyaw  no  'susruvat,  '  our  firmness  ran  away.' 
I  have  little  doubt,  however,  that  avassuta  represents  the  Sanskrit 
avajruta,  and  is  derived  from  the  root  sru,  here  used  in  its  tech- 
nical sense,  peculiar  to  the  Buddhist  literature,  and  so  well  explained 
by  Burnouf  in  his  Appendix  XIV  (Lotus,  p.  820).  He  shows  that, 
according  to  Hema^andra  and  the  G^ina-alankara,  ajravakshaya, 
Pali  asavasaw^khaya  is  counted  as  the  sixth  abhi^«a,  wherever  six 
of  these  intellectual  powers  are  mentioned,  instead  of  five.  The 
Chinese  translate  the  term  in  their  own  Chinese  fashion  by  '  stilla- 
tionis  finis,'  but  Burnouf  claims  for  it  the  definite  sense  of  destruc- 
tion of  faults  or  vices.  He  quotes  from  the  Lalita-vistara  (Adhyaya 
XXII,  ed.  Rajendra  Lai  Mittra,  p.  448)  the  words  uttered  by 
Buddha  when  he  arrived  at  his  complete  Buddhahood  : — 
6'ushka  ajrava  na  puna/^  jravanti, 
'The  vices  are  dried  up,  they  will  not  flow  again;' 
and  he  shows  that  the  Pali  Dictionary,  the  Abhidhanappadipika, 
explains  asava  simply  by  kama,  '  love,  pleasure  of  the  senses.'  In 
the  Mahaparinibbana-sutta,  three  classes  of  asava  are  distinguished, 
the  kamasava,  the  bhavasava,  and  the  avi^^asava.  See  also  Bur- 
nouf, Lotus,  p.  665  ;  Childers,  s.  v.  asavo. 

That  svn  means  '  to  run,'  and  is  in  fact  a  merely  dialectic  variety 
of  sru,  has  been  proved  by  Burnouf,  while  Boehtlingk  thinks  the 
substitution  of  s  for  s  is  a  mistake.  A^rava  therefore,  or  asrava, 
meant  originally  '  the  running  out  towards  objects  of  the  senses ' 
(cf.  sahga,  alaya,  &c.),  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  asrava, '  a  run- 
ning, a  sore,'  Atharva-veda  I,  2,  4.  This  conception  of  the  ori- 
ginal purport  of  a-l-jru  or  ava-JTU  is  confirmed  by  a  statement  of 
Colebrooke's,  who,  when  treating  of  the  (7ainas,  writes  (Miscella- 
neous Essays,  I,  382):  '  Asrava  is  that  which  directs  the  embodied 
spirit  (asravayati  purusham)  towards  external  objects.  It  is  the 
occupation  and  employment  (vr/tti  or  pravn'tti)  of  the  senses  or 
organs  on  sensible  objects.     Through  the  means  of  the  senses  it 


14  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  Ill, 

40.  Knowing  that  this  body  is  (fragile)  Hke  a 
jar,  and  making  this  thought  firm  hke  a  fortress, 
one  should  attack  Mara  (the  tempter)  with  the 
weapon  of  knowledge,  one  should  watch  him  when 
conquered,  and  should  never  rest. 

41.  Before  long,  alas!  this  body  will  lie  on  the 
earth,  despised,  without  understanding,  like  a  use- 
less log. 

42.  Whatever   a   hater   may   do   to  a  hater,   or 


affects  the  embodied  spirit  with  the  sentiment  of  taction,  colour, 
smell,  and  taste.  Or  it  is  the  association  or  connection  of  body 
with  right  and  wrong  deeds.  It  comprises  all  the  karmas,  for  they 
(asravayanti)  pervade,  influence,  and  attend  the  doer,  following  him 
or  attaching  to  him.  It  is  a  misdirection  (mithya-pravr/tti)  of  the 
organs,  for  it  is  vain,  a  cause  of  disappointment,  rendering  the 
organs  of  sense  and  sensible  objects  subservient  to  fruition.  Sa;?^- 
vara  is  that  which  stops  (samvrtnoti)  the  course  of  the  foregoing, 
or  closes  up  the  door  or  passage  to  it,  and  consists  in  self-com- 
mand or  restraint  of  organs  internal  and  external,  embracing  all 
means  of  self-control  and  subjection  of  the  senses,  calming  and 
subduing  them.' 

For  a  full  account  of  the  a^ravas,  see  Lalita-vistara,  ed.  Calc. 
pp.  445  and  552,  where  Kshiwa^rava  is  given  as  a  name  of  Buddha. 
A^rava  occurs  in  Apastamba's  Dharma-sutras  II,  5,  9,  where  the 
commentator  explains  it  by  objects  of  the  senses,  by  which  the 
soul  is  made  to  run  out.  It  is  better,  however,  to  take  a^rava 
here,  too,  as  the  act  of  running  out,  the  affections,  appetites, 
passions. 

40.  Anivesana  has  no  doubt  a  technical  meaning,  and  may 
signify,  one  who  has  left  his  house,  his  family  and  friends,  to 
become  a  monk.  A  monk  shall  not  return  to  his  home,  but  travel 
about ;  he  shall  be  anivesana,  '  homeless,'  anagara,  '  houseless.' 
But  I  doubt  whether  this  can  be  the  meaning  of  anivesana  here, 
as  the  sentence,  let  him  be  an  anchorite,  would  come  in  too 
abruptly.  I  translate  it  therefore  in  a  more  general  sense,  let  him 
not  return  or  turn  away  from  the  battle,  let  him  watch  Mara,  even 
after  he  is  vanquished,  let  him  keep  up  a  constant  fight  against  the 
adversary,  without  being  attached  to  anything  or  anybody. 


THOUGHT. 


15 


an  enemy  to  an   enemy,   a  wrongly-directed   mind 
will  do  us  greater  mischief. 

43.  Not  a  mother,  not  a  father  will  do  so  much, 
nor  any  other  relative ;  a  well-directed  mind  will 
do  us  greater  service. 


43.  See  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  73. 


l6  DIIAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  IV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FLOWERS  ^ 

44.  Who  shall  overcome  this  earth,  and  the 
world  of  Yama  (the  lord  of  the  departed),  and 
the  world  of  the  gods  ?  Who  shall  find  out  the 
plainly  shown  path  of  virtue,  as  a  clever  man 
finds  out  the  (right)  flower  ? 

45.  The  disciple  will  overcome  the  earth,  and 
the  world  of  Yama,  and  the  world  of  the  gods. 
The  disciple  will  find  out  the  plainly  shown  path 
of  virtue,  as  a  clever  man  finds  out  the  (right) 
flower. 

^  See  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  75. 

44,  45.  If  I  differ  from  the  translation  of  FausboU  and  Weber, 
it  is  because  the  commentary  takes  the  two  verbs,  vi^^essati  and 
pa>^essati,  to  mean  in  the  end  the  same  thing,  i.e.  sa/^/^/zi-karissati, 
'  he  will  perceive.'  I  have  not  ventured  to  take  vi^essate  for  vi^a- 
nissati,  though  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  overcoming  of  the 
earth  and  of  the  worlds  below  and  above,  as  here  alluded  to,  is 
meant  to  be  achieved  by  means  of  knowledge.  Pa/^essati,  '  he 
will  gather'  (of. vi-/^i, Indische  Spriiche,  4560),  means  also,  like  'to 
gather'  in  English,  'he  will  perceive  or  understand,'  and  the  dham- 
mapada, or  '  path  of  virtue,'  is  distinctly  explained  by  Buddha- 
ghosa  as  consisting  of  the  thirty-seven  states  or  stations  which  lead 
to  Bodhi.  (See  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  430  ;  Hardy,  Manual,  p.  497.) 
Dhammapada  might,  no  doubt,  mean  also  '  a  law-verse,'  and 
sudesita, '  well  taught,'  and  this  double  meaning  may  be  intentional 
here  as  elsewhere.  Buddha  himself  is  called  Marga-darjaka  and 
Marga-dejika  (cf.  Lai.  Vist.  p.  551).  There  is  a  curious  similarity 
between  these  verses  and  verses  6540-41,  and  9939  of  the  »S'anti- 
parva : 

Pushpawiva  vi/('invantam  anyatragatamanasam, 
Anavapteshu  kameshu  mr/tyur  abhyeti  manavam, 
'Death  approaches  man  like  one  who  is  gathering  flowers,  and 


FLOWERS.  1 7 


46.  He  who  knows  that  this  body  is  Hke  froth, 
and  has  learnt  that  it  is  as  unsubstantial  as  a  mirage, 
will  break  the  flower-pointed  arrow  of  Mara,  and 
never  see  the  king  of  death. 

47.  Death  carries  off  a  man  who  is  gathering 
flowers  and  whose  mind  is  distracted,  as  a  flood 
carries  off  a  sleeping  village. 

48.  Death  subdues  a  man  who  is  gathering  flowers, 
and  whose  mind  is  distracted,  before  he  is  satiated 
in  his  pleasures. 

49.  As  the  bee  collects  nectar  and  departs  without 
injuring  the  flower,  or  its  colour  or  scent,  so  let  a 
sage  dwell  in  his  village. 

50.  Not  the  perversities  of  others,  not  their  sins 


whose  mind  is  turned  elsewhere,  before    his  desires  have  been 

fulfilled.' 

Supta?;/  vyaghraw  mahaugho  va  mr/tyur  adaya  gaM/^ati, 
Saw/^invanakam  evainaw  kamanam  avitr/ptikam. 

*  As  a  stream  (carries  off)  a  sleeping  tiger,  death  carries  oif  this 

man  who  is  gathering  flowers,  and  who  is  not  satiated  in  his 

pleasures.' 

This  last  verse,  particularly,  seems  to  me  clearly  a  translation 

from  Pali,  and  the  kam  of  sa«/('invanakam  looks  as  if  put  in  metri 

causa. 

46.  The  flower-arrows  of  Mara,  the  tempter,  are  borrowed  from 
Kama,  the  Hindu  god  of  love.  For  a  similar  expression  see 
Lalita-vistara,  ed.  Calc.  p.  40,  1.  20,  mayamari/^isadnsa  vidyutphe- 
nopamaj  /^apala-^.  It  is  on  account  of  this  parallel  passage  that 
I  prefer  to  translate  mari/^i  by  '  mirage,'  and  not  by  '  sunbeam,'  as 
Fausboll,  or  by  '  solar  atom,'  as  Weber  proposes.  The  expression, 
'  he  will  never  see  the  king  of  death,'  is  supposed  to  mean  Arhatship 
by  Childers,  s.v.  nibbana,  p.  270. 

47.  See  Thiessen,  Die  Legende  von  Kisagotami,  p.  9. 

48.  Antaka,  '  death,'  is  given  as  an  explanation  of  Mara  in  the 
Amarakosha  and  Abhidhanappadipika  (cf.  Fausboll,  p.  210). 

49.  See  Beal,  Catena,  p.  159,  where  vv.  49  and  50  are  ascribed  to 
Wessabhu,  i.  e.Vijvabhia.    See  also  Der  Weise  und  der  Thor,  p.  134. 


1 8  DPIAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  IV. 

of  commission  or  omission,  but  his  own   misdeeds 
and  negligences  should  a  sage  take  notice  of. 

51.  Like  a  beautiful  flower,  full  of  colour,  but 
without  scent,  are  the  fine  but  fruitless  words  of  him 
who  does  not  act  accordingly. 

52.  But,  like  a  beautiful  flower,  full  of  colour  and 
full  of  scent,  are  the  fine  and  fruitful  words  of  him 
who  acts  accordingly. 

53.  As  many  kinds  of  wreaths  can  be  made  from 
a  heap  of  flowers,  so  many  good  things  may  be 
achieved  by  a  mortal  when  once  he  is  born. 

54.  The  scent  of  flowers  does  not  travel  against 
the  wind,  nor  (that  of)  sandal-wood,  or  of  Tagara 
and  Mallika  flowers ;  but  the  odour  of  good  people 
travels  even  against  the  wind  ;  a  good  man  per- 
vades every  place. 

55.  Sandal- wood  or  Tagara,  a  lotus-flower,  or  a 
Vassiki,  among  these  sorts  of  perfumes,  the  perfume 
of  virtue  is  unsurpassed. 

56.  Mean  is  the  scent  that  comes  from  Tagara 
and  sandal-wood ; — the  perfume  of  those  who  pos- 
sess virtue  rises  up  to  the  gods  as  the  highest. 

57.  Of  the  people  who  possess  these  virtues,  who 
live  without  thoughtlessness,  and  who  are  emanci- 


51.  St.  Matthew  xxiii.  3, '  For  they  say,  and  do  not.' 
54.  Tagara,  a  plant  from  which  a  scented  powder  is  made. 
Mallaka  or  malhka,  according  to  Benfey,  is  an  oil  vessel.  Hence 
tagaramallika  was  supposed  to  mean  a  bottle  holding  aromatic 
powder,  or  oil  made  of  the  Tagara.  Mallika,  however,  is  given  by 
Dr.  Eitel  (Handbook  of  Chinese  Buddhism)  as  the  name  of  a 
flower  now  called  Casturi  (musk)  on  account  of  its  rich  odour,  and 
Dr.  Morris  informs  me  that  he  has  found  mallika  in  Pali  as  a  name 
of  jasmine.  See  also  Childers,  s.  v.;  Notes,  p.  6 ;  and  Beal,  Dhamma- 
pada,  p.  76. 


FLOWERS.  19 


pated  through  true  knowledge,  Mara,  the  tempter, 
never  finds  the  way. 

58,  59.  As  on  a  heap  of  rubbish  cast  upon  the 
highway  the  Hly  will  grow  full  of  sweet  perfume  and 
delight,  thus  the  disciple  of  the  truly  enlightened 
Buddha  shines  forth  by  his  knowledge  among  those 
who  are  like  rubbish,  among  the  people  that  walk 
in  darkness. 

58,  59.  Cf.  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  76. 


20  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  V. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    FOOL. 

60.  Long  is  the  night  to  him  who  is  awake  ;  long 
is  a  mile  to  him  who  is  tired  ;  long  is  life  to  the 
foolish  who  do  not  know  the  true  la^.'^"'^'   ~" 

61.  If  a  traveller  does  not  meet  with  one  who  is 
his  better,  or  his  equal,  let  him  firmly  keep  to  his 
solitary  journey  ;  there  is  no  companionship  with 
a  fool. 

62.  '  These  sons  belong  to  me,  and  this  w^ealth 
belongs  to  me,'  with  such  thoughts  a  fool  is  tor- 
mented. He  himself  does  not  belong  to  himself; 
how  much  less  sons  and  wealth  ? 

63.  The  fool  who  knows  his  foolishness,  is  wise  at 
least  so  far.  But  a  fool  who  thinks  himself  wise,  he 
is  called  a  fool  indeed. 

64.  If  a  fool  be  associated  with  a  wise  man  even 
all  his  life,  he  will  perceive  the  truth  as  little  as  a 
spoon  perceives  the  taste  of  soup. 

65.  If  an  intelligent  man  be  associated  for  one 
minute  only  with  a  wise  man,  he  will  soon  perceive 
the  truth,  as  the  tongue  perceives  the  taste  of  soup. 

66.  Fools  of  little  understandingf  have  themselves 

60.  *  Life,'  sa^isara,  is  the  constant  revolution  of  birth  and  death 
which  goes  on  for  ever  until  the  knowledge  of  the  true  law  or  the 
true  doctrine  of  Buddha  enables  a  man  to  free  himself  from  sa;«sara, 
and  to  enter  into  Nirvawa.  See  Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  Parable 
XIX,  p.  134. 

61.  Cf.  Suttanipata,  v.  46. 

63.  Cf.  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  77. 
65,  Cf.  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  78. 


THE    FOOL.  21 


for  their  greatest  enemies,  for  they  do  evil    deeds 
which  must  bear  bitter  fruits. 

6"/.  That  deed  is  not  well  done  of  which  a  man 
must  repent,  and  the  reward  of  which  he  receives 
crying  and  with  a  tearful  face. 

68.  No,  that  deed  is  well  done  of  which  a  man 
does  not  repent,  and  the  reward  of  which  he  receives 
gladly  and  cheerfully. 

69.  As  long  as  the  evil  deed  done  does  not  bear 
fruit,  the  fool  thinks  it  is  like  honey ;  but  when  it 
ripens,  then  the  fool  suffers  grief. 

70.  Let  a  fool  month  after  month  eat  his  food 
(like  an  ascetic)  with  the  tip  of  a  blade  of  Ku^a 
grass,  yet  is  he  not  worth  the  sixteenth  particle  of 
those  who  have  well  weighed  the  law. 

71.  An  evil  deed,  like  newly-drawn  milk,  does  not 
turn  (suddenly) ;  smouldering,  like  fire  covered  by 
ashes,  it  follows  the  fool. 

67.  See  Beal,  I.e.  p.  78. 

69.  Taken  from  the  Sawyutta-nikdya,  where,  however,  we  read 
thananhi  instead  of  madhuva;  see  Feer,  Comptes  Rendus,  1871, 
p.  64. 

70.  The  commentator  clearly  takes  sankhata  in  the  sense  of 
sahkhyata,  '  reckoned,'  for  he  explains  it  by  watadhamma,  tulita- 
dhamma.  The  eating  with  the  tip  of  Kusa.  grass  has  reference 
to  the  fastings  performed  by  the  Brahmans,  but  disapproved  of, 
except  as  a  moderate  discipline,  by  the  followers  of  Buddha.  This 
verse  seems  to  interrupt  the  continuity  of  the  other  verses  which 
treat  of  the  reward  of  evil  deeds,  or  of  the  slow  but  sure  ripening 
of  every  sinful  act.     See  Childers,  s.  v.  sahkhato. 

71.  I  am  not  at  all  certain  of  the  simile,  unless  mu/^/^ati,  as  applied 
to  milk,  can  be  used  in  the  sense  of  changing  or  turning  sour.  In 
Manu  IV,  172,  where  a  similar  sentence  occurs,  the  commentators 
are  equally  doubtful :  Nadharmaj-  /^arito  loke  sadya^  phalati  gaur 
iva, '  for  an  evil  act  committed  in  the  world  does  not  bear  fruit  at 
once,  like  a  cow;'  or  'like  the  earth  (in  due  season);'  or  'like 
milk.'     See  Childers,  Notes,  p.  6. 


2  2  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  V. 

72.  And  when  the  evil  deed,  after  it  has  become 
known,  brings  sorrow  to  the  fool,  then  it  destroys 
his  bright  lot,  nay,  it  cleaves  his  head. 

73.  Let  the  fool  wish  for  a  false  reputation,  for 
precedence  among  the  Bhikshus,  for  lordship  in  the 
convents,  for  worship  among  other  people  ! 

74.  '  May  both  the  layman  and  he  who  has  left  the 
world  think  that  this  is  done  by  me  ;  may  they  be 
subject  to  me  in  everything  which  is  to  be  done  or 
is  not  to  be  done,'  thus  is  the  mind  of  the  fool,  and 
his  desire  and  pride  increase. 

75.  *  One  is  the  road  that  leads  to  wealth,  another 
the  road  that  leads  to  Nirva;/a;'  if  the  Bhikshu, 
the  disciple  of  Buddha,  has  learnt  this,  he  will  not 
yearn  for  honour,  he  will  strive  after  separation 
from  the  world. 

72.  I  take  i^attam  for  ^wapitam,  the  causative  of  ^?^atam,  for 
which  in  Sanskrit,  too,  we  have  the  form  without  i,  ^?iaptam.  This 
^«aptam,  'made  known,  revealed,'  stands  in  opposition  to  the 
Manna,  'covered,  hid,'  of  the  preceding  verse.  Sukkawsa,  which 
FausboU  explains  by  jukla;«sa,  has  probably  a  more  technical  and 
special  meaning.  Childers  traces  fattam  to  the  Vedic  ^jlatram, 
*  knowledge.'    Fausboll  refers  to  Gataka,  vol.  i.  p.  445,  v.  118. 

75.  Viveka,  which  in  Sanskrit  means  chiefly  understanding,  has 
with  the  Buddhists  the  more  technical  meaning  of  separation, 
whether  separation  from  the  world  and  retirement  to  the  solitude 
of  the  forest  (kaya-viveka),  or  separation  from  idle  thoughts  (-^itta- 
viveka),  or  the  highest  separation  and  freedom  (Nirvawa). 


THE    WISE    MAN.  23 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   WISE    MAN    (PAiVDITA). 

76.  If  you  see  an  intelligent  man  who  tells  you 
where  true  treasures  are  to  be  found,  who  shows 
what  is  to  be  avoided,  and  administers  reproofs, 
follow  that  wise  man  ;  it  will  be  better,  not  worse, 
for  those  who  follow  him. 

77.  Let  him  admonish,  let  him  teach,  let  him 
forbid  what  is  improper  ! — he  will  be  beloved  of  the 
good,  by  the  bad  he  will  be  hated. 

78.  Do  not  have  evil-doers  for  friends,  do  not 
have  low  people  for  friends  :  have  virtuous  people 
for  friends,  have  for  friends  the  best  of  men. 

79.  He  who  drinks  in  the  law  lives  happily  with 
a  serene  mind ;  the  sage  rejoices  always  in  the  law, 
as  preached  by  the  elect  (Ariyas). 

80.  Well-makers  lead  the  water  (wherever  they 
like) ;  fletchers  bend  the  arrow  ;  carpenters  bend 
a  log  of  wood  ;  wise  people  fashion  themselves. 

78.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  take  mitte  kalyawe  in  the  technical 
sense  of  kalya;za-mitra,  'ein  geistlicher  Rath,'  a  spiritual  guide. 
Burnouf  (Introd.  p.  284)  shows  that  in  the  technical  sense  kalyawa- 
mitra  was  widely  spread  in  the  Buddhist  world. 

79.  Ariya,  '  elect,  venerable,'  is  explained  by  the  commentator 
as  referring  to  Buddha  and  other  teachers. 

80.  See  verses  33  and  145,  the  latter  being  a  mere  repetition  of 
our  verse.  The  nettikas,  to  judge  from  the  commentary  and  from 
the  general  purport  of  the  verse,  are  not  simply  water-carriers,  but 
builders  of  canals  and  aqueducts,  who  force  the  water  to  go  where 
it  would  not  go  by  itself.  The  Chinese  translator  says, '  the  pilot 
manages  his  ship.'     See  Beal,  1.  c.  p.  79. 


24  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  VI. 

8 1.  As  a  solid  rock  Is  not  shaken  by  the  wind, 
wise  people  falter  not  amidst  blame  and  praise. 

82.  Wise  people,  after  they  have  listened  to  the 
laws,  become  serene,  like  a  deep,  smooth,  and  still 
lake. 

83.  Good  people  walk  on  whatever  befall,  the 
good  do  not  prattle,  longing  for  pleasure  ;  whether 
touched  by  happiness  or  sorrow  wise  people  never 
appear  elated  or  depressed. 

84.  If,  whether  for  his  own  sake,  or  for  the  sake 
of  others,  a  man  wishes  neither  for  a  son,  nor  for 
wealth,  nor  for  lordship,  and  if  he  does  not  wish  for 
his  own  success  by  unfair  means,  then  he  is  good, 
wise,  and  virtuous. 

85.  Few  are  there  among  men  who  arrive  at  the 
other  shore  (become  Arhats);  the  other  people  here 
run  up  and  down  the  shore. 

83.  The  first  line  is  very  doubtful.  I  have  adopted,  in  my  trans- 
lation, a  suggestion  of  Mr.  Childers,  who  writes,  '  I  think  it  will  be 
necessary  to  take  sabbattha  in  the  sense  of"  everywhere,"  or  "  under 
every  condition;"  pa«/^akhandadibhedesu,  sabbadhammesu,  says 
Buddhaghosha.  I  do  not  think  we  need  assume  that  B.  means 
the  word  vi^ahanti  to  be  a  synonym  of  va^anti.  I  would  rather 
take  the  whole  sentence  together  as  a  gloss  upon  the  word  va^anti : 
— va^antiti  arahatta«anena  apaka^(37;anta  k/ia.nda.raga.7n  vi^ahanti; 
va^anti  means  that,  ridding  themselves  of  lust  by  the  wisdom  which 
Arhatship  confers,  they  cast  it  away.'  I  am  inclined  to  think  the 
hne  means  '  the  righteous  walk  on  (unmoved)  in  all  the  conditions 
of  life.'  Ninda,  pasawsa,  sukha,  dukkha  are  four  of  the  eight 
lokadhammas,  or  earthly  conditions ;  the  remaining  lokadhammas 
are  labha,  alabha,  yasa,  ayasa. 

In  v.  245,  passata,  '  by  a  man  who  sees,'  means  *  by  a  man  who 
sees  clearly  or  truly.'  In  the  same  manner  vra^  may  mean,  not 
simply  '  to  walk,'  but  '  to  walk  properly,'  or  may  be  used  synony- 
mously with  pravra^. 

85.  'The  other  shore'  is  meant  for  Nirvana,  'this  shore'  for 
common  life.     On  reaching  Nirva-'/a,    the   dominion   of  death  is 


THE    WISE    MAN.  2$ 


86.  But  those  who,  when  the  law  has  been  well 
preached  to  them,  follow  the  law,  will  pass  across 
the  dominion  of  death,  however  difficult  to  over- 
come. 

Sy,  88.  A  wise  man  should  leave  the  dark  state 
(of  ordinary  life),  and  follow  the  bright  state  (of  the 
Bhikshu).  After  going  from  his  home  to  a  home- 
less state,  he  should  in  his  retirement  look  for 
enjoyment  where  there  seemed  to  be  no  enjoy- 
ment. Leaving  all  pleasures  behind,  and  calling 
nothing  his  own,  the  wise  man  should  purge  himself 
from  all  the  troubles  of  the  mind. 

89.  Those  whose  mind  is  well  grounded  in  the 
(seven)  elements  of  knowledge,  who  without  cling- 


overcome.  The  commentator  supplies  taritva,  '  having  crossed,'  in 
order  to  explain  the  accusative  maH'udheyyam.  Possibly  param 
essanti  should  here  be  taken  as  one  word,  in  the  sense  of  over- 
coming. 

87,  88.  Dark  and  bright  are  meant  for  bad  and  good ;  cf.  Sutta- 
nipata,  v.  526,  and  Dhp.  v.  167.  Leaving  one's  home  is  the  same 
as  becoming  a  mendicant,  without  a  home  or  family,  an  anagara, 
or  anchorite.  A  man  in  that  state  of  viveka,  or  retirement  (see 
V.  75,  note),  sees,  that  where  before  there  seemed  to  be  no  pleasure 
there  real  pleasure  is  to  be  found,  or  vice  versa.  A  similar  idea  is 
expressed  in  verse  99.  See  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  4 7  4,  where  he  speaks 
of '  Le  plaisir  de  la  satisfaction,  n^  de  la  distinction.' 

The  five  troubles  or  evils  of  the  mind  are  passion,  anger,  igno- 
rance, arrogance,  pride  ;  see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  pp.  360,  443.  As  to 
pariyodapeyya,  see  verse  183,  and  Lotus,  pp.  523,  528;  as  to 
akifiy^ano,  see  Mahabh.  XII,  6568,  1240. 

89.  The  elements  of  knowledge  are  the  seven  Sambodhyangas, 
on  which  see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  796.  D'Alwis  explains  them  as 
the  thirty-seven  Bodhipakkhiya-dhamma.  Khiwasava,  which  I  have 
translated  by  '  they  whose  frailties  have  been  conquered,'  may  also 
be  taken  in  a  more  metaphysical  sense,  as  explained  in  the  note  to 
V.  39.  The  same  applies  to  the  other  terms  occurring  in  this  verse, 
such  as  adana,  anupadaya,  &c.  Dr.  Fausboll  seems  inclined  to 
[10]  f 


26  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  VI. 

ing  to  anything,  rejoice  in  freedom  from  attachment, 
whose  appetites  have  been  conquered,  and  who  are 
full  of  light,  are  free  (even)  in  this  world. 


take  asava  in  this  passage,  and  in  the  other  passages  where  it 
occurs,  as  the  Pah  representative  of  ajraya.  But  a^raya,  in  Buddhist 
phraseology,  means  rather  the  five  organs  of  sense  with  manas, 
'  the  soul,'  and  these  are  kept  distinct  from  the  asavas,  '  the  inclina- 
tions, the  appetites,  passions,  or  vices.'  The  commentary  on  the 
Abhidharma,  when  speaking  of  the  Yoga^aras,  says, '  En  r^unissant 
ensemble  les  receptacles  (ajraya),  les  choses  revues  (a^rita)  et  les 
supports  (alambana),  qui  sont  chacun  composes  de  six  termes,  on  a 
dix-huit  termes  qu'on  appelle  "  Dhatus  "  ou  contenants.  La  col- 
lection des  six  receptacles,  ce  sont  les  organes  de  la  vue,  de  I'oui'e, 
de  I'odorat,  du  gout,  du  toucher,  et  le  "  manas "  (ou  I'organe  du 
coeur),  qui  est  le  dernier.  La  collection  des  six  choses  re9ues,  c'est 
la  connaissance  produite  par  la  vue  et  par  les  autres  sens  jusqu'au 
"manas"  inclusivement.  La  collection  des  six  supports,  ce  sont  la 
forme  et  les  autres  attributs  sensibles  jusqu'au  "  Dharma"  (la  loi  ou 
I'etre)  inclusivement.'     See  Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  449. 

Parinibbuta  is  again  a  technical  term,  the  Sanskrit  parinivr/ta 
meaning  '  freed  from  all  worldly  fetters,'  like  vimukta.  See  Bur- 
nouf, Introduction,  p.  590.  See  Childers,  s.  v.  nibbana,  p.  270, 
and  Notes  on  Dhammapada,  p.  3 ;  and  D'Alwis,  Buddhist  Nirvawa, 
P-  75- 


THE    VENERABLE.  27 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    VENERABLE    (aRHAt). 

90.  There  is  no  suffering  for  him  who  has  finished 
his  journey,  and  abandoned  grief,  wlio  has  freed  him- 
self on  all  sides,  and  thrown  off  all  fetters. 

91.  They  depart  with  their  thoughts  well-collected, 
they  are  not  happy  in  their  abode ;  like  swans  who 
have  left  their  lake,  they  leave  their  house  and 
home. 

92.  Men  who  have  no  riches,  who  live  on  recog- 
nised food,  who  have  perceived  void  and  uncon- 
ditioned freedom  (Nirva/za),  their  path  is  difficult  to 
understand,  like  that  of  birds  in  the  air. 


91.  Satimanto,  Sanskrit  smmimanta/z,  '  possessed  of  memory,' 
but  here  used  in  the  technical  sense  of  sati,  the  first  of  the  Bodhyan- 
gas.  See  Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  797.  Clough  translates  it  by 
'  intense  thought,'  and  this  is  the  original  meaning  of  smar,  even 
in  Sanskrit.     See  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language,  vol.  ii. 

P-  332. 

Uyyuyi^anti,  which  Buddhaghosa  explains  by  '  they  exert  them- 
selves,' seems  to  me  to  signify  in  this  place  '  they  depart,'  i.  e. 
they  leave  their  family,  and  embrace  an  ascetic  life.  See  note  to 
verse  235.  See  also  Rhys  Davids,  Mahaparinibbana-sutta,  Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,  vol.  xi.  p.  22. 

92.  Smmato  and  animitto  are  adjectives  belonging  to  vimokho, 
one  of  the  many  names  of  Nirvawa,  or,  according  to  Childers,  s.  v. 
nibbana,  p.  270,  Arhatship;  see  Burnouf,  Litroducdon,  pp.  442, 
462,  on  i'iinya.  The  Sanskrit  expression  junyatanimittaprawihitam 
occurs  in  L'enfant  egar^,  5  a,  1.  4.  Nimitta  is  cause  in  the  most 
general  sense,  i.  e.  what  causes  existence.  The  commentator  ex- 
plains it  chiefly  in  a  moral  sense  :  Ragadinimittabhavena  animitta»2, 
tehi  ka.  vimuttan  ti  animitto  vimokho,  i.  e.  owing  to  the  absence  of 
passion  and  other  causes,  without  causation ;  because  freed  from 

f    2 


28  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  VII. 

93.  He  whose  appetites  are  stilled,  who  is  not 
absorbed  in  enjoyment,  who  has  perceived  void  and 
unconditioned  freedom  (Nirva/za),  his  path  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand,  like  that  of  birds  in  the  air. 

94.  The  gods  even  envy  him  whose  senses,  like 
horses  well  broken  in  by  the  driver,  have  been 
subdued,  who  is  free  from  pride,  and  free  from 
appetites. 

95.  Such  a  one  who  does  his  duty  is  tolerant  like 
the  earth,  like  Indra's  bolt ;  he  is  like  a  lake  without 
mud ;  no  new  births  are  in  store  for  him. 

96.  His  thought  is  quiet,  quiet  are  his  word  and 
deed,  when  he  has  obtained  freedom  by  true  know- 
ledge, when  he  has  thus  become  a  quiet  man. 


these  causes,  therefore  it  is  called  freedom  without  causation.     See 
Childers,  Pali  Dictionary,  p.  270,  col.  2,  line  i. 

The  simile  is  intended  to  compare  the  ways  of  those  who  have 
obtained  spiritual  freedom  to  the  flight  of  birds,  it  being  difficult 
to  understand  how  the  birds  move  on  without  putting  their  feet  on 
anything.  This,  at  least,  is  the  explanation  of  the  commentator. 
The  same  metaphor  occurs  Mahabh.  XII,  6763.  Childers  translates, 
'  leaving  no  more  trace  of  existence  than  a  bird  in  the  air.' 

95.  Without  the  hints  given  by  the  commentator,  we  should 
probably  take  the  three  similes  of  this  verse  in  their  natural  sense, 
as  illustrating  the  imperturbable  state  of  an  Arahanta,  or  venerable 
person.  The  earth  is  always  represented  as  an  emblem  of  patience; 
the  bolt  of  Indra,  if  taken  in  its  technical  sense,  as  the  bolt  of  a 
gate,  might  likewise  suggest  the  idea  of  firmness  ;  while  the  lake  is 
a  constant  representative  of  serenity  and  purity.  The  commentator, 
however,  suggests  that  what  is  meant  is,  that  the  earth,  though 
flowers  are  cast  on  it,  does  not  feel  pleasure,  nor  the  bolt  of  Indra 
displeasui-e,  although  less  savoury  things  are  thrown  upon  it ;  and 
that  in  like  manner  a  wise  person  is  indiflferent  to  honour  and  dis- 
honour. 

96.  That  this  very  natural  threefold  division,  thought,  word,  and 
deed,  the  trividha-dvara  or  the  three  doors  of  the  Buddhists  (Hardy, 
IManual,  p.  494),  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Buddhists  or  unknown  to 


THE    VENERABLE.  29 


97.  The  man  who  is  free  from  creduHty,  but  knows 
the  uncreated,  who  has  cut  all  ties,  removed  all 
temptations,  renounced  all  desires,  he  is  the  greatest 
of  men. 


the  Brahmans,  has  been  proved  against  Dr.  Weber  by  Professor 
Koppen  in  his 'Religion  des  Buddha,'  I,  p.  445.  He  particularly  called 
attention  to  Manu  XII,  4-8  ;  and  he  might  have  added  Mahabh. 
XII,  4059,  6512,  6549,  6554;  XIII,  5677,  &c.  Dr.  Weber  has 
himself  afterwards  brought  forward  a  passage  from  the  Atharva- 
veda,  VI,  96,  3  {yzk  ^akshusha  manasa  ya/^  ka.  va/^a  uparima), 
which,  however,  has  a  different  meaning.  A  better  one  was  quoted 
by  him  from  the  Taitt.  Ar.  X,  i,  12  (yan  me  manasa,  va/ta,  karmawa 
va  dusYikn'tam  kr/tam).  Similar  expressions  have  been  shown  to 
exist  in  the  Zend-avesta,  and  among  the  Manichseans  (Lassen, 
Indische  Alterthumskunde,  III,  p.  414;  see  also  Boehtlingk's  Dic- 
tionary, s.  V.  kaya,  and  Childers,  s.  v.  kayo).  There  was  no  ground, 
therefore,  for  supposing  that  this  formula  had  found  its  way  into 
the  Christian  liturgy  from  Persia,  for,  as  Professor  Cowell  remarks 
(Journal  of  Philology,  vol.  vii.  p,  215),  Greek  writers,  such  as  Plato, 
employ  very  similar  expressions,  e.g.  Protag.  p.  348,  30,  npos  anav 
f'pyov  KoX  Xoyov  Koi  diavorjiia.  In  fact,  the  Opposition  between  words 
and  deeds  occurs  in  almost  every  writer,  from  Homer  downwards  ; 
and  the  further  distinction  between  thoughts  and  words  is  clearly 
implied  even  in  such  expressions  as,  'they  say  in  their  heart.'  That 
the  idea  of  sin  committed  by  thought  was  not  a  new  idea,  even  to  the 
Jews,  may  be  seen  from  Prov.  xxiv.  9, '  the  thought  of  foolishness 
is  sin.'  In  the  Apastamba-sutras,  lately  edited  by  Professor  Biihler, 
we  find  the  expression,  atho  yatki'fi/^'a  manasa  vaX'a  X'akshusha  va 
safikalpayan  dhyayaty  ahabhivipa^yati  va  tathaiva  tad  bhavatityu- 
padi^ranti,  '  they  say  that  whatever  a  Brahman  intending  with  his 
mind,  voice,  or  eye,  thinks,  says,  or  looks,  that  will  be.'  This  is 
clearly  a  very  different  division,  and  it  is  the  same  which  is  intended 
in  the  passage  from  the  Atharva-veda,  quoted  above.  In  the  mis- 
chief done  by  the  eye,  we  have,  perhaps,  the  first  indication  of  the 
evil  eye.  (Mahabh.  XII,  3417.  See  Dhammapada,  vv.  231-234.) 
On  the  technical  meaning  of  tadi,  see  Childers,  s.v.  D'Alwis 
(p.  78)  has  evidently  received  the  right  interpretation,  but  has  not 
understood  it.  Madma  also  is  used  very  much  like  tadma,  and 
from  it  mariso,  a  venerable  person,  in  Sanskrit  marsha. 


DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  VII. 


98.  In  a  hamlet  or  in  a  forest,  in  the  deep  water 
or  on  the  dry  land,  wherever  venerable  persons 
(Arahanta)  dwell,  that  place  is  delightful. 

99.  Forests  are  delightful ;  where  the  world  finds 
no  delight,  there  the  passionless  will  find  delight, 
for  they  look  not  for  pleasures. 


THE    THOUSANDS.  31 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    THOUSANDS. 

100.  Even  though  a  speech  be  a  thousand  (of 
words),  but  made  up  of  senseless  words,  one  word 
of  sense  is  better,  which  if  a  man  hears,  he  becomes 
quiet. 

loi.  Even  though  a  Gatha  (poem)  be  a  thousand 
(of  words),  but  made  up  of  senseless  words,  one 
word  of  a  Gatha  is  better,  which  if  a  man  hears,  he 
becomes  quiet. 

102.  Though  a  man  recite  a  hundred  Gathas  made 
up  of  senseless  words,  one  word  of  the  law  is  better, 
which  if  a  man  hears,  he  becomes  quiet. 

103.  If  one  man  conquer  in  battle  a  thousand 
times  thousand  men,  and  if  another  conquer  himself, 
he  is  the  greatest  of  conquerors. 

104.  105.  One's  own  self  conquered  is  better  than 
all  other  people  ;  not  even  a  god,  a  Gandharva,  not 
Mara  with   Brahman  could  change  into  defeat  the 

100.  This  Sahasravarga,  or  Chapter  of  the  Thousands,  is  quoted 
by  that  name  in  the  ]\Iahavastu  (Minayeff,  Melanges  Asiatiques,  VI, 
p.  583):  Tesham  Bhagavafi  ^a/ilanaw  Dharmapadeshu  sahasra- 
vargam  bhashati :  '  Sahasram  api  va-^anam  anarthapadasa;«hitanam, 
ekarthavati  sveya  yam  jrutva  upa^amyati.  Sahasram  api  gathanam 
anarthapadasawhitanam,  ekarthavati  jreya  yaw^  j'rutva  upa^amyati' 
(MS.  R.  A.  S.  Lond.)  Here  the  Pah  text  seems  decidedly  more 
original  and  perfect. 

104.  G\ta?n,  according  to  the  commentator,  stands  for_§^ito  (lin- 
gavipallaso,  i.  e.  viparyasa) ;  see  also  Senart  in  Journal  Asiatique, 
1880,  p.  500. 

The  Devas  (gods),  Gandharvas  (fairies),  and  other  fanciful  beings 
of  the  Brahmanic  religion,  such  as  the  Nagas,  Sarpas,  GaiWas,  &c., 


32  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  VIII. 

victory  of  a  man  who  has  vanquished  himself,  and 
always  lives  under  restraint. 

1 06.  If  a  man  for  a  hundred  years  sacrifice  month 
after  month  with  a  thousand,  and  if  he  but  for  one 
moment  pay  homage  to  a  man  whose  soul  is  grounded 
(in  true  knowledge),  better  is  that  homage  than  a 
sacrifice  for  a  hundred  years. 

107.  If  a  man  for  a  hundred  years  worship  Agni 
(fire)  in  the  forest,  and  if  he  but  for  one  moment  pay 
homage  to  a  man  whose  soul  is  grounded  (in  true 
knowledge),  better  is  that  homage  than  sacrifice  for 
a  hundred  years. 

108.  Whatever  a  man  sacrifice  in  this  world  as  an 
offering  or  as  an  oblation  for  a  whole  year  in  order  to 
gain  merit,  the  whole  of  it  is  not  worth  a  quarter  (a 
farthing) ;  reverence  shown  to  the  righteous  is  better. 

were  allowed  to  continue  in  the  traditional  language  of  the  people 
who  had  embraced  Buddhism.  See  the  pertinent  remarks  of  Burnouf, 
Introduction,  pp.  134  seq.,  184.  On  Mara,  the  tempter,  see  v.  7. 
Sastram  Aiyar,  On  the  G^aina  Religion,  p.  xx,  says :  '  Moreover  as 
it  is  declared  in  the  Gaina  Vedas  that  all  the  gods  worshipped  by 
the  various  Hindu  sects,  viz.  -S'iva,  Brahma,  Vish«u,  Ga«aj>ati, 
Subramaniyan,  and  others,  were  devoted  adherents  of  the  above- 
mentioned  Tirthahkaras,  the  G^ainas  therefore  do  not  consider 
them  as  unworthy  of  their  worship  ;  but  as  they  are  servants  of 
Arugan,  they  consider  them  to  be  deities  of  their  system,  and 
accordingly  perform  certain  pii^as  in  honour  of  them,  and  worship 
them  also.'  The  case  is  more  doubtful  with  orthodox  Buddhists. 
'Orthodox  Buddhists,'  as  Mr.  D'Alwis  writes  (Attanagalu-vansa, 
p.  55),  'do  not  consider  the  worship  of  the  Devas  as  being  sanc- 
tioned by  him  who  disclaimed  for  himself  and  all  the  Devas  any 
power  over  man's  soul.  Yet  the  Buddhists  are  everywhere  idol- 
worshippers.  Buddhism,  however,  acknowledges  the  existence  of 
some  of  the  Hindu  deities,  and  from  the  various  friendly  offices 
which  those  Devas  are  said  to  have  rendered  to  Gotama,  Buddhists 
evince  a  respect  for  their  idols.'  See  also  Buddhaghosha's  Parables, 
p.  162. 


THE    THOUSANDS.  33 


109.  He  who  always  greets  and  constantly  reveres 
the  aged,  four  things  will  increase  to  him,  viz.  life, 
beauty,  happiness,  power. 

no.  But  he  who  lives  a  hundred  years,  vicious 
and  unrestrained,  a  life  of  one  day  is  better  if  a  man 
is  virtuous  and  reflecting. 

111.  And  he  who  lives  a  hundred  years,  ignorant 
and  unrestrained,  a  life  of  one  day  is  better  if  a  man 
is  wise  and  reflecting. 

1 1 2.  And  he  who  lives  a  hundred  years,  idle  and 
weak,  a  life  of  one  day  is  better  if  a  man  has  attained 
firm  strenoth. 

113.  And  he  who  lives  a  hundred  years,  not  seeing 
beginning  and  end,  a  life  of  one  day  is  better  if  a 
man  sees  beginning  and  end. 

114.  And  he  who  lives  a  hundred  years,  not 
seeing  the  immortal  place,  a  life  of  one  day  is  better 
if  a  man  sees  the  immortal  place. 

115.  And  he  who  lives  a  hundred  years,  not 
seeing  the  highest  law,  a  life  of  one  day  is  better 
if  a  man  sees  the  highest  law. 

109.  Dr.  Fausboll,  in  a  most  important  note,  called  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  same  verse,  with  slight  variations,  occurs  in  INIanu. 
We  there  read,  II,  121  : 

Abhivadana^ilasya  nitya^«  vr/ddhopasevina^, 
-^atvari  sampravardhante  ayur  vidy^  yajo  balam. 
Here  the  four  things  are,  life,  knowledge,  glory,  power. 

In  the  Apastamba-sutras,  I,  2,  5,  15,  the  reward  promised  for 
the  same  virtue  is  svargam  ayus  ^a,  'heaven  and  long  life.'  It 
seems,  therefore,  as  if  the  original  idea  of  this  verse  came  from  the 
Brahmans,  and  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Buddhists.  How 
largely  it  spread  is  shown  by  Dr.  Fausboll  from  the  Asiatic  Re- 
searches, XX,  p.  259,  where  the  same  verse  of  the  Dhammapada 
is  mentioned  as  being  in  use  among  the  Buddhists  of  Siam. 

112.  On  kusito,  see  note  to  verse  7. 


34  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  IX. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EVIL. 

it6.  If  a  man  would  hasten  towards  the  good, 
he  should  keep  his  thought  away  from  evil ;  if  a 
man  does  what  is  good  slothfully,  his  mind  delights 
in  evil, 

117.  If  a  man  commits  a  sin,  let  him  not  do  it 
again ;  let  him  not  delight  in  sin  :  pain  is  the  out- 
come of  evil. 

118.  If  a  man  does  what  is  good,  let  him  do  it 
again  ;  let  him  delight  in  it :  happiness  is  the  out- 
come of  good. 

119.  Even  an  evil-doer  sees  happiness  as  long  as 
his  evil  deed  has  not  ripened ;  but  when  his  evil 
deed  has  ripened,  then  does  the  evil-doer  see  evil. 

120.  Even  a  good  man  sees  evil  days,  as  long  as 
his  good  deed  has  not  ripened  ;  but  when  his  good 
deed  has  ripened,  then  does  the  good  man  see  happy 
days. 

121.  Let  no  man  think  lightly  of  evil,  saying  in 
his  heart.  It  will  not  come  nigh  unto  me.  Even  by 
the  falling  of  water-drops  a  water-pot  is  filled  ;  the 
fool  becomes  full  of  evil,  even  if  he  gather  it  little 
by  little. 

122.  Let  no  man  think  lightly  of  good,  saying  in 
his  heart.  It  w^ill  not  come  nigh  unto  me.  Even  by 
the  falling  of  water-drops  a  water-pot  is  filled  ;  the 
wise  man  becomes  full  of  good,  even  if  he  gather  it 
little  by  little.  ji<^^_  £n» 

123.  Let  a  man  avoid  evil  deeds,  as  a  merchant, 
if  he  has  few  companions  and  carries  much  wealth, 


EVIL.  35 

avoids  a  dangerous  road  ;  as  a  man  who  loves  life 
avoids  poison. 

124.  He  who  has  no  wound  on  his  hand,  may 
touch  poison  with  his  hand  ;  poison  does  not  affect 
one  who  has  no  wound  ;  nor  is  there  evil  for  one 
who  does  not  commit  evil. 

125.  If  a  man  offend  a  harmless,  pure,  and  inno- 
cent person,  the  evil  falls  back  upon  that  fool,  like 
light  dust  thrown  up  against  the  wind. 

126.  Some  people  are  born  again;  evil-doers  go 
to  hell ;  righteous  people  go  to  heaven  ;  those  who 
are  free  from  all  worldly  desires  attain  Nirva^^a. 

127.  Not  in  the  sky,  not  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
not  if  we  enter  into  the  clefts  of  the  mountains,  is 
there  known  a  spot  in  the  whole  world  where  a 
man  might  be  freed  from  an  evil  deed. 

128.  Not  in  the  sky,  not  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
not  if  we  enter  into  the  clefts  of  the  mountains,  is 
there  known  a  spot  in  the  whole  world  where  death 
could  not  overcome  (the  mortal). 

125.  Cf.  Suttanipata,  V.  661 ;  Indische  Spriiche,  1582;  Katha- 
saritsagara,  49,  222. 

126.  For  a  description  of  hell  and  its  long,  yet  not  endless 
sufferings,  see  Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  p.  132.  The  pleasures  of 
heaven,  too,  are  frequently  described  in  these  Parables  and  else- 
where. Buddha  himself  enjoyed  these  pleasures  of  heaven,  before  he 
was  born  for  the  last  time.  It  is  probably  when  good  and  evil  deeds 
are  equally  balanced,  that  men  are  born  again  as  human  beings ; 
{his,  at  least,  is  the  opinion  of  the  G^ainas.  Cf.  Chintamawi,  ed. 
H.  Bower,  Introd.  p.  xv. 

127.  Cf.  St.  Luke  xii.  2, '  For  there  is  nothing  covered  that  shall 
not  be  revealed;'  and  Psalm  cxxxix.  8-12. 


36  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  X. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PUNISHMENT. 

^  129.  All  men  tremble  at  punishment,  all  men  fear 
death  ;  remember  that  you  are  like  unto  them,  and 
do  not  kill,  nor  cause  slaughter. 

I  T,o.  All  men  tremble  at  punishment,  all  men  love 
life  ;  remember  that  thou  art  like  unto  them,  and  do 
not  kill,  nor  cause  slaughter. 

131.  He  who  seeking  his  own  happiness  punishes 
or  kills  beings  who  also  long  for  happiness,  will  not 
find  happiness  after  death. 


129.  One  feels  tempted,  no  doubt,  to  take  upama  in  the  sense 
of  '  the  nearest  (der  Nachste),  the  neighbour,'  and  to  translate, 
'having  made  oneself  one's  neighbour,'  i.e.  loving  one's  neighbour 
as  oneself.  But  as  upamam,  with  a  short  a,  is  the  correct  accusadve 
of  upama,  we  must  translate, '  having  made  oneself  the  likeness, 
the  image  of  others,  having  placed  oneself  in  the  place  of  others.' 
This  is  an  expression  which  occurs  frequently  in  Sanskrit ;  of. 
Hitopadeja  I,  1 1 : 

Pra;?a  yathatmano  'bhish/a  bhutanam  api  te  tatha, 
Atmaupamyena  bhuteshu  daya///  kurvanti  sadhava//. 
*As  life  is  dear  to  oneself,  it  is  dear  also  to  other  living  beings: 
by  comparing  oneself  with  others,  good  people  bestow  pity  on  all 
beings.' 

See  also  Hit.  I,  12;  Ram.  V,  23,  5,  atmanam  upama;«  k/vtva 
sveshu  dareshu  ramyatam, '  making  oneself  a  likeness,  i.  e.  putting 
oneself  in  the  position  of  other  people,  it  is  right  to  love  none  but 
one's  own  wife.'  Dr.  FausboU  has  called  attention  to  similar  pas- 
sages in  the  Mahabharata,  XIII,  5569  seq. 

130.  Cf  St.  Luke  vi.  31. 

131.  Dr.  FausboU  points  out  the  striking  similarity  between  this 
verse  and  two  verses  occurring  in  Manu  and  the  Mahabharata : — 


PUNISHMENT. 


"^132.  He  who  seeking  his  own  happiness  does  not 
punish  or  kill  beings  who  also  long  for  happiness, 
will  find  happiness  after  death. 

133.  Do  not  speak  harshly  to  anybody;  those 
who  are  spoken  to  will  answer  thee  in  the  same 
way.  Angry  speech  is  painful,  blows  for  blows  will 
touch  thee. 

134.  If,  like  a  shattered  metal  plate  (gong),  thou 
utter  not,  then  thou  hast  reached  Nirva/^a;  conten- 
tion is  not  known  to  thee. 

135.  As  a  cowherd  with  his  staff  drives  his  cows 
into  the  stable,  so  do  Age  and  Death  drive  the  life 
of  men. 

136.  A  fool  does  not  know  when  he  commits  his 
evil  deeds  :  but  the  wicked  man  burns  by  his  own 
deeds,  as  if  burnt  by  fire. 

137.  He  who  inflicts  pain  on  innocent  and  harm- 
less persons,  will  soon  come  to  one  of  these  ten 
states  : 


Manu  V,  45 : 

Yo  'hi;;/sakani  bhutani  hinasty  atmasukhe-^'/^/;aya, 
Sa  gi'va.r?is  -('a  mn'tas  /^aiva  na  kva/^it  sukham  edhate. 
Mahabharata  XIII,  5568 : 

Ahi77zsakani  bhutani  dawa'ena  vinihanti  ya//, 
Atmana,^  sukham  \Ak/i-3.n  sa  pretya  naiva  sukhi  bhavet. 
If  it  were  not  for  ahi7«sakani,  in  which  Manu  and  the  Mahabharata 
agree,  I  should  say  that  the  verses  in  both  were  Sanskrit  modifica- 
tions of  the  Pali  original.    The  verse  in  the  Mahabharata  presup- 
poses the  verse  of  the  Dhammapada. 

133.  See  Mahabharata  XII,  4056. 

134.  See  Childers,  s.v.  nibbana,  p.  270,  and  s.  v.  ka;/2S0  ;  D'AIwis, 
Buddhist  Nirva^/a,  p.  35. 

136.  The  metaphor  of  'burning'  for  'sutfering'  is  very 
common  in  Buddhist  literature.  Everything  burns,  i.  e.  every- 
thing suffers,  was  one  of  the  first  experiences  of  Buddha  himself. 
See  V.  146. 


38  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  X. 

138.  He  will  have  cruel  suffering,  loss,  injury  of 
the  body,  heavy  affliction,  or  loss  of  mind, 

139.  Or  a  misfortune  coming  from  the  king,  or 
a  fearful  accusation,  or  loss  of  relations,  or  destruc- 
tion of  treasures, 

140.  Or  lightning-fire  will  burn  his  houses  ;  and 
when  his  body  is  destroyed,  the  fool  will  go  to  hell. 

141.  Not  nakedness,  not  platted  hair,  not  dirt,  not 
fasting,  or  lying  on  the  earth,  not  rubbing  with  dust, 

138.  'Cruel  suffering'  is  explained  by  sisaroga,  'headache,'  &c. 
'  Loss'  is  taken  for  loss  of  money.  '  Injury  of  the  body '  is  held  to 
be  the  cutting  off  of  the  arm,  and  other  limbs.  '  Heavy  afflictions ' 
are,  again,  various  kinds  of  diseases. 

139.  Upasarga  means  'accident,  misfortune.'  Dr.  FausboU 
translates  ra^ato  va  upassaggam  by  '  fulgentis  (lunae)  defectionem  ;' 
Dr.  Weber  by  '  Bestrafung  vom  Konig;'  Beal  by  '  some  govern- 
mental difficulty.'  Abbhakkhanam,  Sanskrit  abhyakhyanam,  is  a 
heavy  accusation  for  high  treason,  or  similar  offences.  Beal  trans- 
lates, '  some  false  accusation.'  The  '  destruction  of  pleasures  or 
treasures'  is  explained  by  gold  being  changed  to  coals  (see  Buddha- 
ghosha's  Parables,  p.  98  ;  Thiessen,  Kisagotami,  p.  6),  pearls  to 
cotton  seed,  corn  to  potsherds,  and  by  men  and  cattle  becoming 
blind,  lame,  &c. 

141.  Cf.  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  355.  Dr.  FausboU  has  pointed  out 
that  the  same  or  a  very  similar  verse  occurs  in  a  legend  taken  from 
the  Divyavadana,  and  translated  by  Burnouf  (Introduction,  p.  313 
seq.)  Burnouf  translates  the  verse  :  '  Ce  n'est  ni  la  coutume  de 
marcher  nu,  ni  les  cheveux  nattds,  ni  I'usage  d'argile,  ni  le  choix 
des  diverses  especes  d'aliments,  ni  I'habitude  de  coucher  sur  la 
terre  nue,  ni  la  poussifere,  ni  la  malpropretd,  ni  I'attention  a  fuir 
I'abri  d'un  toit,  qui  sont  capables  de  dissiper  le  trouble  dans  lequel 
nous  jettent  les  ddsirs  non-satisfaits ;  mais  qu'un  homme,  maitre 
de  ses  sens,  calme,  recueilli,  chaste,  dvitant  de  faire  du  mal  a  aucune 
creature,  accomplisse  la  Loi,  et  il  sera,  quoique  pard  d'ornements, 
un  Brahmane,  un  ^ramana,  un  Religieux.'  See  also  Suttanipata, 
V.  248. 

Walking  naked  and  the  other  things  mentioned  in  our  verse 
are  outward  signs  of  a  saintly  life,  and  these  Buddha  rejects  because 
they  do  not  calm  the  passions.     Nakedness  he  seems  to  have 


PUNISHMENT.  39 


not  sitting  motionless,  can  purify  a  mortal  who  has 
not  overcome  desires. 

142.  He  who,  though  dressed  in  fine  apparel, 
exercises  tranquillity,  is  quiet,  subdued,  restrained, 
chaste,  and  has  ceased  to  find  fault  with  all  other 
beings,  he  indeed  is  a  Brahma;^a,  an  ascetic  (i"ra- 
mana),  a  friar  (bhikshu). 

143.  Is  there  in  this  world  any  man  so  restrained 
by  humility  that  he  does  not  mind  reproof,  as  a 
well-trained  horse  the  whip  ? 

144.  Like  a  well-trained  horse  when  touched  by 

rejected  on  other  grounds  too,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  Suma- 
gadha-avadana  :  '  A  number  of  naked  friars  were  assembled  in  the 
house  of  the  daughter  of  Anatha-pi«fi?ika.  She  called  her  daughter- 
in-law,  Sumagadha,  and  said,  "  Go  and  see  those  highly  respectable 
persons."  Sumagadha,  expecting  to  see  some  of  the  saints,  like 
»Sariputra,  Maudgalyayana,  and  others,  ran  out  full  of  joy.  But 
when  she  saw  these  friars  with  their  hair  like  pigeon  wings,  covered 
by  nothing  but  dirt,  offensive,  and  looking  like  demons,  she  became 
sad.  "  Why  are  you  sad?"  said  her  mother-in-law.  Sumagadha 
replied,  "O  mother,  if  these  are  saints,  what  must  sinners  be  like?"' 

Burnouf  (Introduction,  p.  312)  supposed  that  the  (9ainas  only, 
and  not  the  Buddhists,  allowed  nakedness.  But  the  Gainas,  too, 
do  not  allow  it  universally.  They  are  divided  into  two  parties,  the 
-Svetambaras  and  Digambaras.  The  -Svetambaras,  clad  in  white, 
are  the  followers  of  Parjvanatha,  and  wear  clothes.  The  Digam- 
baras, i.  e.  sky-clad,  disrobed,  are  followers  of  Mahavira,  resident 
chiefly  in  Southern  India.  At  present  they,  too,  wear  clothing, 
but  not  when  eating.     See  Sastram  Aiyar,  p.  xxi. 

The  ^a/a,  or  the  hair  platted  and  gathered  up  in  a  knot,  was  a 
sign  of  a  6'aiva  ascetic.  The  sitting  modonless  is  one  of  the  pos- 
tures assumed  by  ascetics.  Clough  explains  ukku/ika  as  '  the  act 
of  sitting  on  the  heels ;'  Wilson  gives  for  utka/ukasana, '  sitting  on 
the  hams.'     See  Fausboll,  note  on  verse  140. 

142.  As  to  dawf/anidhana,  see  Mahabh.  XII,  6559,  and  Sutta- 
nipata,  v.  34. 

143,  144.  I  am  very  doubtful  as  to  the  real  meaning  of  these 
verses.     If  their  object  is  to  show  how  reproof  or  punishment 


40  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  X. 

the  whip,  be  ye  active  and  lively,  and  by  faith,  by 
virtue,  by  energy,  by  meditation,  by  discernment  of 
the  law  you  will  overcome  this  great  pain  (of  reproof), 
perfect  in  knowledge  and  in  behaviour,  and  never 
forgetful. 

145.  Well-makers  lead  the  water  (wherever  they 
like) ;  fletchers  bend  the  arrow  ;  carpenters  bend 
a  log  of  wood  ;  good  people  fashion  themselves. 

should  be  borne,  my  translation  would  be  right,  though  alpabodhati 
in  the  sense  of  parvi  facere  is  strange. 

145.  The  same  as  verse  80.  According  to  Fausboll  and  Subhuti 
we  ought  to  render  the  verses  by, '  What  man  is  there  found  on 
earth  so  restrained  by  shame  that  he  never  provokes  reproof,  as  a 
good  horse  the  whip  ? '     See  Childers,  s.  v.  appabodhati. 


OLD    AGE.  41 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OLD    AGE. 

146.  How  is  there  laughter,  how  is  there  joy,  as 
this  world  is  always  burning  ?  Why  do  you  not 
seek  a  light,  ye  who  are  surrounded  by  darkness  ? 

147.  Look  at  this  dressed-up  lump,  covered  with 
wounds,  joined  together,  sickly,  full  of  many  thoughts, 
which  has  no  strength,  no  hold ! 

148.  This  body  is  wasted,  full  of  sickness,  and 
frail ;  this  heap  of  corruption  breaks  to  pieces,  life 
indeed  ends  in  death. 

148.  Dr.  Fausboll  informs  me  that  Childers  proposed  the  emen- 
dation mara??anta?«  hi  ^ivitara.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter, 
addressed  by  Childers  to  Dr.  Fausboll,  will  be  read  with  interest : — 
'As  regards  Dhp.  v.  148,  I  have  no  doubt  whatever.  I  quite  agree 
with  you  that  the  idea  (mors  est  vita  ejus)  is  a  profound  and  noble 
one,  but  the  question  is,  Is  the  idea  there?  I  think  not.  Marawaiw 
tamhi  ^ivita;;z  is  not  Pali,  I  mean  not  a  Pali  construction,  and 
years  ago  even  it  grated  on  my  ear  as  a  harsh  phrase.  The  reading 
of  your  MSS.  of  the  texts  is  nothing;  your  MSS.  of  Dhammapada 
are  very  bad  ones,  and  it  is  merely  the  vicious  Sinhalese  spelling  of 
bad  MSS.,  like  kammarataz'z  for  kammanta/«.  But  the  comment  sets 
the  question  at  rest  at  once,  for  it  explains  marawantaw  by  mara«a- 
pariyosana;?;,  which  is  exactly  the  same.  I  see  there  is  one  serious 
difficulty  left,  that  all  your  MSS.  seem  to  have  tamhi,  and  not 
tarn  hi ;  but  are  you  sure  it  is  so  ?  There  was  a  Dhammapada  in 
the  India  Office  Library,  and  I  had  a  great  hunt  for  it  a  few  days 
ago,  but  to  my  deep  disappointment  it  is  missing.  I  do  not  agree 
with  you  that  the  sentence  "  All  Life  is  bounded  by  Death,"  is 
trivial :  it  is  a  truism,  but  half  the  noblest  passages  in  poetry  are 
truisms,  and  unless  I  greatly  mistake,  this  very  passage  will  be  found 
in  many  other  literatures.' 

Dr.  Fausboll  adds  : — 

'I  have  still  the  same  doubt  as  before,  because  of  all  my 

[10]  g 


42  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XT. 

149.  Those  white  bones,  like  gourds  thrown  away 
in  the  autumn,  what  pleasure  is  there  in  looking  at 
them  ? 

150.  After  a  stronghold  has  been  made  of  the 
bones,  it  is  covered  with  flesh  and  blood,  and  there 
dwell  in  it  old  age  and  death,  pride  and  deceit. 

151.  The  brilliant  chariots  of  kings  are  destroyed, 
the  body  also  approaches  destruction,  but  the  virtue 
of  good  people  never  approaches  destruction, — thus 
do  the  good  say  to  the  good. 

152.  A  man  who  has  learnt  little,  grows  old  like 
an  ox ;  his  flesh  grows,  but  his  knowledge  does  not 
grow. 

153.  154.  Looking  for  the  maker  of  this  taber- 
nacle, I  shall  have  to  run  through  a  course  of  many 
births,  so  long  as  I  do  not  find  (him) ;  and  painful  is 
birth  again  and  again.  But  now,  maker  of  the  taber- 
nacle, thou  hast  been  seen ;  thou  shalt  not  make  up 

MSS.  reading  m2.va.n9.fn  tamhi.  I  do  not  know  the  readings 
of  the  London  MSS.  The  explanation  of  the  commentary  does 
not  settle  the  question,  as  it  may  as  well  be  considered  an 
explanation  of  my  reading  as  of  the  reading  which  Childers 
proposed. — V.  Fausboll.' 

149.  In  the  Rudraya«avadana  of  the  Divyavadana  this  verse 
appears  as, 

Yanimany  apariddhani  vikshiptani  diso  disa./i, 
Kapctavarwany  asthini  tani  dr/sh/vaiha  ka  rati-^. 
See  Schiefner,  M^l.  Asiat.  VIII,  p.  589  ;   Gataka,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 

150.  The  expression  ma»/salohitalepanam  is  curiously  like  the 
expression  used  in  Manu  VI,  76,  maz'/sa^owitalepanam,  and  in 
several  passages  of  the  Mahabharata,  XII,  12462,  12053,  ^s  pointed 
out  by  Dr.  Fausboll. 

153,  154.  These  two  verses  are  famous  among  Buddhists,  for 
they  are  the  words  which  the  founder  of  Buddhism  is  supposed 
to  have  uttered  at  the  moment  he  attained  to  Buddhahood.  (See 
Spence  Hardy,  Manual,  p.  180.)  According  to  the  Lalita-vistara, 
however,  the  words  uttered  on  that  solemn  occasion  were  those 


OLD    AGE.  43 

this  tabernacle  again.  All  thy  rafters  are  broken, 
thy  ridge-pole  is  sundered  ;  the  mind,  approaching 
the  Eternal  (visankhara,  nirvana),  has  attained  to 
the  extinction  of  all  desires. 

quoted  in  the  note  to  verse  39.  In  the  commentary  on  the 
Brahma^ala  this  verse  is  called  the  first  speech  of  Buddha,  his  last 
speech  being  the  words  in  the  Mahaparinibbana-sutta,  '  Life  is 
subject  to  age ;  strive  in  earnest.'  The  words  used  in  the  Maha- 
parinibbana-sutta, Chap.  IV,  2,  ^atunnawz  dhammanam  ananubodha 
appa/ivedha  evam  idaw  digham  addhanaw  sandhavitaw  sa7«saritaw 
mamaw  k'  eva  tumhakail-  ka.,  answer  to  the  anticipation  expressed 
in  our  verse. 

The  exact  rendering  of  this  verse  has  been  much  discussed,  chiefly 
by  Mr.  D'Alwis  in  the  Attanugaluvansa,  p.  cxxviii,  and  again  in  his 
Buddhist  Nirvawa,  p.  78  ;  also  by  Childers,  Notes  on  Dhammapada, 
p.  4,  and  in  his  Dictionary.  Gogerly  translated  :  '  Through  various 
transmigrations  I  must  travel,  if  I  do  not  discover  the  builder  whom 
I  seek.'  Spence  Hardy :  '  Through  many  different  births  I  have  run 
(to  me  not  having  found),  seeking  the  architect  of  the  desire-re- 
sembHng  house.'  Fausboll :  '  Multiplices  generationis  revolutiones 
percurreram,non  inveniens,domus  (corporis)  fabricatorem  quaerens.' 
And  again  (p.  322):  'Multarum  generationum  revolutio  mihi  sub- 
eunda  esset,  nisi  invenissem  domus  fabricatorem.'  Childers:  '  I  have 
run  through  the  revolution  of  countless  births,  seeking  the  architect 
of  this  dwelling  and  finding  him  not.'  D'Alwis :  '  Through  transmi- 
grations of  numerous  births  have  I  run,  not  discovering,  (though) 
seeking  the  house-builder.'  All  depends  on  how  we  take  sandha- 
vissam,  which  Fausboll  takes  as  a  conditional,  Childers,  following 
Trenckner,  as  an  aorist,  because  the  sense  imperatively  requires 
an  aorist.  In  either  case,  the  dropping  of  the  augment  and  the 
doubling  of  the  s  are,  however,  irregular.  Sandhavissam  is  the 
regular  form  of  the  future,  and  as  such  I  translate  it,  qualifying, 
however,  the  future,  by  the  participle  present  anibbisan,  i,  e.  not 
finding,  and  taking  it  in  the  sense  of,  if  or  so  long  as  I  do  not  find 
the  true  cause  of  existence.  I  had  formerly  translated  anibbisan, 
as  not  resting  (anirvii-an),  but  the  commentator  seems  to  authorise 
the  meaning  of  not  finding  (avindanto,  alabhanto),  and  in  that  case 
all  the  material  difficulties  of  the  verse  seem  to  me  to  disappear. 

'  The  maker  of  the  tabernacle '  is  explained  as  a  poetical  expres- 
sion for  the  cause  of  new  births,  at  least  according  to  the  views  of 

g2 


44  DHAMMAPADA.      CHAP.  XI. 

155.  Men  who  have  not  observed  proper  disci- 
pline, and  have  not  gained  treasure  in  their  youth, 
perish  Hke  old  herons  in  a  lake  without  fish. 

156.  Men  who  have  not  observed  proper  disci- 
pline, and  have  not  gained  treasure  in  their  youth, 
lie,  like  broken  bows,  sighing  after  the  past. 

Buddha's  followers,  whatever  his  own  views  may  have  been.  Bud- 
dha had  conquered  Mara,  the  representative  of  worldly  temptations, 
the  father  of  worldly  desires,  and  as  desires  (taw^ha)  are,  by  means 
of  upadana  and  bhava,  the  cause  of  ^ati,  or  'birth,'  the  destruction  of 
desires  and  the  conquest  of  Mara  are  nearly  the  same  thing,  though 
expressed  differently  in  the  philosophical  and  legendary  language 
of  the  Buddhists.  Tawha,  '  thirst'  or  '  desire,'  is  mentioned  as 
serving  in  the  army  of  Mara.     (Lotus,  p.  443.) 

1 55.  On  ^/^ayanti,  i.  e.  kshayanti,  see  Dr.  Bollensen's  learned 
remarks,  Zeitschrift  der  Deutschen  Morgenl.  Gesellschaft,  XVIII, 
834,  and  Boehtlingk-Roth,  s.v.  ksha. 


SELF.  45 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SELF. 

157.  If  a  man  hold  himself  dear,  let  him  watch 
himself  carefully ;  during  one  at  least  out  of  the 
three  watches  a  wise  man  should  be  watchful. 

158.  Let  each  man  direct  himself  first  to  what  is 
proper,  then  let  him  teach  others  ;  thus  a  wise  man 
will  not  suffer. 

159.  If  a  man  make  himself  as  he  teaches  others 
to  be,  then,  being  himself  well  subdued,  he  may  sub- 
due (others)  ;  one's  own  self  is  indeed  difficult  to 
subdue. 

160.  Self  is  the  lord  of  self,  w^ho  else  could  be 
the  lord  ?  With  self  well  subdued,  a  man  finds  a 
lord  such  as  few  can  find. 

161.  The  evil  done  by  oneself,  self-begotten,  self- 
bred,  crushes  the  foolish,  as  a  diamond  breaks  a 
precious  stone. 

162.  He  whose  wickedness  is  very  great  brings 
himself  down  to  that  state  where  his  enemy  wishes 
him  to  be,  as  a  creeper  does  with  the  tree  which  it 
surrounds. 

163.  Bad  deeds,  and  deeds  hurtful  to  ourselves, 
are  easy  to  do ;  what  is  beneficial  and  good,  that  is 
very  difficult  to  do. 

157.  The  three  watches  of  the  night  are  meant  for  the  three 
stages  of  hfe.  Cf.  St.  Mark  xiii.  37,  'And  what  I  say  unto  you, 
I  say  unto  all,  Watch.' 

158.  Cf.  G^ataka,  vol.  ii.  p.  441. 

161.  The  Chinese  translation  renders  va^iram  by  '  steel  drill.' 


46  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XII. 

164.  The  foolish  man  who  scorns  the  rule  of  the 
venerable  (Arahat),  of  the  elect  (Ariya),  of  the  vir- 
tuous, and  follows  false  doctrine,  he  bears  fruit  to 
his  own  destruction,  like  the  fruits  of  the  Ka///^aka 
reed. 

165.  By  oneself  the  evil  is  done,  by  oneself  one 
suffers ;  by  oneself  evil  is  left  undone,  by  oneself 
one  is  purified.  Purity  and  impurity  belong  to  one- 
self, no  one  can  purify  another, 

166.  Let  no  one  forget  his  own  duty  for  the  sake 
of  another's,  however  great ;  let  a  man,  after  he  has 
discerned  his  own  duty,  be  always  attentive  to  his 
duty. 

164.  The  reed  either  dies  after  it  has  borne  fruit,  or  is  cut  down 
for  the  sake  of  its  fruit. 

'D\ilh\,  Hterally  '  view,'  is  used  even  by  itself,  Uke  the  Greek 
'hairesis,'  in  the  sense  of  heresy  (see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  444).  In 
other  places  a  distinction  is  made  between  xmkkh^dxtthx  (vv.  167, 
316)  and  sammadi/Mi  (v.  319).  If  arahatawz  ariyanara  are  used  in 
their  technical  sense,  we  should  translate  '  the  reverend  Arhats,' — 
Arhat  being  the  highest  degree  of  the  four  orders  of  Ariyas,  viz. 
Srotaapanna,  Sakadagamin,  Anagamin,  and  Arhat.  See  note  to 
verse  178. 

166,  Attha,  lit.  'object,' must  here  be  taken  in  a  moral  sense, 
as  '  duty '  rather  than  as  '  advantage.'  Childers  rendered  it  by 
'  spiritual  good.'  The  story  which  Buddhaghosa  tells  of  the  Thera 
Attadattha  gives  a  clue  to  the  origin  of  some  of  his  parables,  which 
seem  to  have  been  invented  to  suit  the  text  of  the  Dhammapada 
rather  than  vice  versa.  A  similar  case  occurs  in  the  commentary 
to  verse  227. 


THE    WORLD.  47 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    WORLD. 

167.  Do  not  follow  the  evil  law!  Do  not  live  on 
in  thoughtlessness  !  Do  not  follow  false  doctrine  ! 
Be  not  a  friend  of  the  world. 

168.  Rouse  thyself!  do  not  be  idle!  Follow  the 
law  of  virtue!  The  virtuous  rests  in  bliss  in  this 
world  and  in  the  next. 

169.  Follow  the  law  of  virtue  ;  do  not  follow  that 
of  sin.  The  virtuous  rests  in  bliss  in  this  world  and 
in  the  next. 

1 70.  Look  upon  the  world  as  a  bubble,  look  upon 
it  as  a  mirage  :  the  king  of  death  does  not  see  him 
who  thus  looks  down  upon  the  world. 

171.  Come,  look  at  this  glittering  world,  like  unto 
a  royal  chariot ;  the  foolish  are  immersed  in  it,  but 
the  wise  do  not  touch  it. 

172.  He  who  formerly  was  reckless  and  after- 
wards became  sober,  brightens  up  this  world,  like 
the  moon  when  freed  from  clouds. 

173.  He  whose  evil  deeds  are  covered  by  good 
deeds,  brightens  up  this  world,  like  the  moon  when 
freed  from  clouds. 

1 74.  This  world  is  dark,  few  only  can  see  here ;  a  few 
only  go  to  heaven,  like  birds  escaped  from  the  net. 

175.  The  swans  go  on  the  path  of  the  sun,  they 
go  through  the  ether  by  means  of  their  miraculous 

168,  169.  See  Rhys  Davids,  Buddhism,  p.  65. 
170.  See  Suttanipata,  v.  11 18. 

175.  Hawsa  may  be  meant  for  the  bird,  whether  flamingo,  or 
swan,  or  ibis  (see  Hardy,  Manual,  p.  17),  but  it  may  also,  I  believe. 


48  DHAMMAPADA-       CHAP.  XIII. 

power ;  the   wise  are  led  out  of  this  world,  when 
they  have  conquered  Mdra  and  his  train. 

176.  If  a  man  has  transgressed  one  law,  and 
speaks  lies,  and  scoffs  at  another  world,  there  is  no 
evil  he  will  not  do. 

177.  The  uncharitable  do  not  go  to  the  world  of 
the  gods  ;  fools  only  do  not  praise  liberality  ;  a  wise 
man  rejoices  in  liberality,  and  through  it  becomes 
blessed  in  the  other  world. 

1 78.  Better  than  sovereignty  over  the  earth,  better 
than  going  to  heaven,  better  than  lordship  over  all 
worlds,  is  the  reward  of  the  first  step  in  holiness. 


be  taken  in  the  sense  of  saint.  As  to  iddhi,  'magical  power,' 
i.e.  r/ddhi,  see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  310;  Spence  Hardy,  Manual, 
pp.  498,  504 ;  Legends,  pp.  55,  177  ;  and  note  to  verse  254. 

178.  Sotapatti,  the  technical  term  for  the  first  step  in  the  path 
that  leads  to  Nirvana.  There  are  four  such  steps,  or  stages,  and  on 
entering  each,  a  man  receives  a  new  title : — 

(i)  The  6'rotaapanna,  lit.  he  who  has  got  into  the  stream. 
A  man  may  have  seven  more  births  before  he  reaches  the  other 
shore,  i.  e.  Nirvawa. 

(2)  Sakn'dagamin,  lit.  he  who  comes  back  once,  so  called  be- 
cause, after  having  entered  this  stage,  a  man  is  born  only  once 
more  among  men  or  gods.  Childers  shows  that  this  involves  really 
two  more  births,  one  in  the  deva  world,  the  other  in  the  world  of 
men.     Burnouf  says  the  same,  Introduction,  p.  293. 

(3)  Anagamin,  lit.  he  who  does  not  come  back,  so  called  be- 
cause, after  this  stage,  a  man  cannot  be  born  again  in  a  lower 
world,  but  can  only  be  born  into  a  Brahman  worlds  before  he 
reaches  Nirvawa. 

(4)  Arhat,  the  venerable,  the  perfect,  who  has  reached  the  highest 
stage  that  can  be  reached,  and  from  which  Nirvawa  is  perceived 
(sukkhavipassana,  Lotus,  p.  849).  See  Hardy,  Eastern  Monachism, 
p.  280;  Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  209;  Koppen,  p.  398;  D'Alwis, 
Attanugaluvansa,  p.  cxxiv;  Feer,  Sutra  en  42  articles,  p.  6. 


THE    BUDDHA.  49 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    BUDDHA    (tHE    AWAKENEd). 

179.  He  whose  conquest  is  not  conquered  again, 
into  whose  conquest  no  one  in  this  world  enters,  by 
what  track  can  you  lead  him,  the  Awakened,  the 
Omniscient,  the  trackless  ? 

180.  He  whom  no  desire  with  its  snares  and 
poisons  can  lead  astray,  by  what  track  can  you 
lead  him,  the  Awakened,  the  Omniscient,  the 
trackless  ? 

181.  Even  the  gods  envy  those  who  are  awakened 
and  not  forgetful,  who  are  given  to  meditation,  who 
are  wise,  and  who  delight  in  the  repose  of  retire- 
ment (from  the  world). 

182.  Difficult  (to  obtain)  is  the  conception  of  men, 
difficult  is  the  life  of  mortals,  difficult  is  the  hearing 
of  the  True  Law,  difficult  is  the  birth  of  the  Awak- 
ened (the  attainment  of  Buddhahood). 

179,  180.  Buddha,  the  Awakened,  is  to  be  taken  as  an  appella- 
tive rather  than  as  the  proper  name  of  the  Buddha  (see  v.  183). 
It  means,  anybody  who  has  arrived  at  complete  knowledge.  Anan- 
tago>^aram  I  take  in  the  sense  of,  possessed  of  unlimited  knowledge. 
Apadam,  which  Dr.  Fausboll  takes  as  an  epithet  of  Buddha  and 
translates  by  '  non  investigabilis,'  is  translated  '  trackless,'  in  order 
to  show  the  play  on  the  word  pada ;  see  Childers,  s.  v.  The  com- 
mentator says  :  '  The  man  who  is  possessed  of  even  a  single  one  of 
such  conditions  as  raga,  &c.,  him  ye  may  lead  forward ;  but  the 
Buddha  has  not  even  one  condition  or  basis  of  renewed  existence, 
and  therefore  by  what  track  will  you  lead  this  unconditioned 
Buddha?'    Cf.  Dhp.  vv.  92,  420;  and  G^ataka,  vol.  i.  pp.  79,  313. 

182.  Mr.  Beal  (Dhammapada,  p.  1 10)  states  that  this  verse  occurs 
in  the  Sutra  of  the  Forty-two  Sections. 


50  DHAMMAPADA.        CHAP.  XIV. 

183.  Not  to  commit  any  sin,  to  do  good,  and  to 
purify  one's  mind,  that  is  the  teaching  of  (all)  the 
Awakened. 

184.  The  Awakened  call  patience  the  highest 
penance,  long-suffering  the  highest  Nirva;?a ;  for  he 
is  not  an  anchorite  (pravra^ita)  who  strikes  others, 
he  is  not  an  ascetic  (^rama^^a)  who  insults  others. 

185.  Not  to  blame,  not  to  strike,  to  live  restrained 
under  the  law,  to  be  moderate  in  eating,  to  sleep  and 
sit  alone,  and  to  dwell  on  the  highest  thoughts, — 
this  is  the  teaching  of  the  Awakened. 

183.  This  verse  is  again  one  of  the  most  solemn  verses  among 
the  Buddhists.  According  to  Csoma  Korosi,  it  ought  to  follow 
the  famous  Arya  stanza,  'Ye  dhamm^'  (Lotus,  p.  522),  and  serve 
as  its  complement.  But  though  this  may  be  the  case  in  Tibet,  it 
was  not  so  originally.  The  same  verse  (ascribed  to  Kanakamuni) 
occurs  at  the  end  of  the  Chinese  translation  of  the  Pratimoksha 
(Beal,  J.  R.  A.  S.  XIX,  p.  473;  Catena,  p.  159);  in  the  Tibetan 
translation  of  the  Gathasahgraha,  v.  14  (Schiefner,  M^l.  Asiat. 
VIII,  pp.  568,  586 ;  and  Csoma  Korosi,  As.  Res.  XX,  p.  79). 
Burnouf  has  fully  discussed  the  metre  and  meaning  of  our  verse  on 
PP-  527)  528  of  his  '  Lotus.'  He  prefers  sa/?'ittaparidamanam,  which 
Csoma  translated  by  '  the  mind  must  be  brought  under  entire  sub- 
jection' (sva-^ittaparidamanam),  and  the  late  Dr.  Mill  by  'proprii 
intellectus  subjugatio.'  But  his  own  MS.  of  the  Mahapadhana-sutta 
gave  likewise  sa/^ittapariyodapanam,  and  this  is  no  doubt  the  cor- 
rect reading.  (See  D'Alwis,  Attanugaluvansa,  p.  cxxix.)  We 
found  pariyodappeya  in  verse  88,  in  the  sense  of  purging  oneself 
from  the  troubles  of  thought.  From  the  same  verb,  (pari)  ava  +  dai, 
we  may  derive  the  name  Avadana,  a  legend,  originally  a  pure  and 
virtuous  act,  an  dpla-reia,  afterwards  a  sacred  story,  and  possibly  a 
story  the  hearing  of  which  purifies  the  mind.  See  BoehtHngk- 
Roth,  s.  V.  avadana. 

184.  Childers,  following  the  commentator,  translates,  'Patience, 
which  is  long-suffering,  is  the  best  devotion,  the  Buddhas  declare 
that  Nirvana  is  the  best  (of  things).' 

185.  Cf.  Suttanipata,  v.  337.  Patimokkhe,  'under  the  law,'  i.e. 
according  to  the  law,  the  law  which  leads  to  Moksha,  or  '  freedom.' 
Pratimoksha  is  the  title  of  the  oldest  collection  of  the  moral  laws 


THE    BUDDHA.  51 


186.  There  is  no  satisfying  lusts,  even  by  a  shower 
of  gold  pieces  ;  he  who  knows  that  lusts  have  a  short 
taste  and  cause  pain,  he  is  wise  ; 

187.  Even  in  heavenly  pleasures  he  finds  no  satis- 
faction, the  disciple  who  is  fully  awakened  delights 
only  in  the  destruction  of  all  desires. 

188.  Men,  driven  by  fear,  go  to  many  a  refuge,  to 
mountains  and  forests,  to  groves  and  sacred  trees. 

189.  But  that  is  not  a  safe  refuge,  that  is  not  the 
best  refuge ;  a  man  is  not  delivered  from  all  pains 
after  having  gone  to  that  refuge. 

190.  He  who  takes  refuge  with  Buddha,  the  Law, 


of  the  Buddhists  (Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  300 ;  Bigandet,  The 
Life  of  Gaudama,  p.  439;  Rhys  Davids,  Buddhism,  p.  162),  and  as 
it  was  common  both  to  the  Southern  and  the  Northern  Buddhists, 
patimokkhe  in  our  passage  may  possibly  be  meant,  as  Professor 
Weber  suggests,  as  the  tide  of  that  very  collection.  The  commen- 
tator explains  it  by  ^e///;akasila  and  patimokkhasila.  Sayanasam 
might  stand  for  i'ayanajanam,  see  Mahabh.  XII,  6684  ;  but  in  Bud- 
dhist literature  it  is  intended  for  j-ayanasanam;  see  also  Mahabh.  XII, 
9978,  j'ayyasane.    Fausboll  now  reads  panta  instead  of  patthan. 

187.  There  is  a  curious  similarity  between  this  verse  and  verse 
6503  (9919)  of  the  ^'antiparva  : 

Ya/^  k2i  kamasukha?^  loke,  ya-^  k-A.  divyam  mahat  sukham, 
Tnsh^akshayasukhasyaite  narhata/z  shoa'axi/^  kalam. 
'  And  whatever  delight  of  love  there  is  on  earth,  and  whatever  is 
the  great  delight  in  heaven,  they  are  not  worth  the  sixteenth  part 
of  the  pleasure  which  springs  from  the  destruction  of  all  desires.' 
The  two  verses  186,  187  are  ascribed  to  king  Mandhatrz",  shortly 
before  his  death  (Mdl.  Asiat.VIII,  p.  471;  see  also  Gataka,  vol.  ii. 

P-II3)- 

188-192.  These  verses  occur  in  Sanskrit  in  the  Pratiharyasutra, 
translated  by  Burnouf,  Introduction,  pp.  162-189;  see  p.  186. 
Burnouf  translates  rukkha>^'etyani  by  '  arbres  consacr^s  ; '  properly, 
sacred  shrines  under  or  near  a  tree.    See  also  Gataka,  vol.  i.  p.  97. 

190.  Buddha,  Dharma,  and  Safigha  are  called  the  Tri^arawa 
(cf.  Burnouf,  Introd.  p.  630).  The  four  holy  truths  are  the  four 
statements  that  there  is  pain  in  this  world,  that  the    source  of 


52  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XIV. 

and  the  Church  ;  he  who,  with  clear  understanding, 
sees  the  four  holy  truths  : — 

191.  Viz.  pain,  the  origin  of  pain,  the  destruction 
of  pain,  and  the  eightfold  holy  way  that  leads  to  the 
quieting  of  pain  ; — 

192.  That  is  the  safe  refuge,  that  is  the  best 
refuge ;  having  gone  to  that  refuge,  a  man  is  deli- 
vered from  all  pain. 

193.  A  supernatural  person  (a  Buddha)  is  not 
easily  found,  he  is  not  born  everywhere.  Wherever 
such  a  sage  is  born,  that  race  prospers. 

194.  Happy  is  the  arising  of  the  awakened, 
happy  is  the  teaching  of  the  True  Law,  happy  is 
peace  in  the  church,  happy  is  the  devotion  of  those 
who  are  at  peace. 

195.  196.  He  who  pays  homage  to  those  who 
deserve  homage,  whether  the  awakened  (Buddha) 
or  their  disciples,  those  who  have  overcome  the 
host  (of  evils),  and  crossed  the  flood  of  sorrow,  he 
who  pays  homage  to  such  as  have  found  deliverance 
and  know  no  fear,  his  merit  can  never  be  measured 
by  anybody. 

pain  is  desire,  that  desire  can  be  annihilated,  that  there  is  a  way 
(shown  by  Buddha)  by  which  the  annihilation  of  all  desires  can  be 
achieved,  and  freedom  be  obtained.  That  way  consists  of  eight 
parts.  (See  Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  630.)  The  eightfold  way 
forms  the  subject  of  Chapter  XVIII.  (See  also  Feer,  Journal 
As.  1870,  p.  418,  and  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,  2nd  ed. 
vol.  i,  p.  251  seq.) 


HAPPINESS.  53 


CHAPTER  XV. 

HAPPINESS. 

197.  Let  us  live  happily  then,  not  hating  those 
who  hate  us !  amongf  men  who  hate  us  let  us  dwell 
free  from  hatred  ! 

198.  Let  us  live  happily  then,  free  from  ailments 
among  the  ailing !  among  men  who  are  ailing  let  us 
dwell  free  from  ailments  ! 

199.  Let  us  live  happily  then,  free  from  greed 
among  the  greedy  !  among  men  who  are  greedy  let 
us  dwell  free  from  greed ! 

200.  Let  us  live  happily  then,  though  we  call 
nothing  our  own !  We  shall  be  like  the  bright  gods, 
feeding  on  happiness ! 

201.  Victory  breeds  hatred,  for  the  conquered  is 
unhappy.  He  who  has  given  up  both  victory  and 
defeat,  he,  the  contented,  is  happy. 

198.  The  ailment  here  meant  is  moral  rather  than  physical. 
Cf.  Mahabh.  XII,  9924,  s3.mprzsa.nto  niramaya-^;  9925,  yo  'sau 
prawantiko  rogas  tkm  tn'shnam  tyagatzh  sukham. 

200.  The  words  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  king  of  Videha, 
while  his  residence  Mithila  was  in  flames,  are  curiously  like  our 
verse;  cf.  Mahabh.  XII,  9917, 

Susukha»^  vata  ^ivami  yasya  me  nasti  kijl^ana, 
Mithilayam  pradiptaya/w  na  me  dahyati  kinka.nz. 
'  I  live  happily,  indeed,  for  I  have  nothing ;   while  Mithila  is  in 
flames,  nothing  of  mine  is  burning.'     Cf.  Muir,  Religious  Senti- 
ments, p.  106. 

The  abhassara,  i.  e.  abhasvara,  '  the  bright  gods,'  are  frequently 
mentioned.     Cf.  Burnouf,  Introd.  p.  611. 

201.  This  verse  is  ascribed  to  Buddha,  when  he  heard  of  the 
defeat  of  A^atajatru  by  Prasena^it.     It  exists  in  the  Northern  or 


54  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XV. 

202.  There  is  no  fire  like  passion  ;  there  is  no 
losing  throw  like  hatred ;  there  is  no  pain  like  this 
body  ;  there  is  no  happiness  higher  than  rest. 

203.  Hunger  is  the  worst  of  diseases,  the  body 
the  greatest  of  pains  ;  if  one  knows  this  truly,  that 
is  Nirva;2a,  the  highest  happiness. 

Sanskrit  and  in  the  Southern  or  Pali  texts,  i.  e.  in  the  Avadana- 
jataka,  in  the  Sawyutta-nikaya.  See  Feer,  Comptes  Rendus,  1871, 
p.  44,  and  Journal  As.  1880,  p.  509.  In  the  Avadana-,rataka,  the 
Sanskrit  version  is — 

Gayo  vairam  prasavati,  du/zkha/;;  sete  para^-ita-^ 
Upa^-anta/^  sukha;«  sete  hitva  _§-ayapara^ayam. 

202.  I  take  kali  in  the  sense  of  an  unlucky  die  which  makes  a 
player  lose  his  game.  A  real  simile  seems  wanted  here,  as  in 
verse  251,  where,  for  the  same  reason,  I  translate  graha  by 'shark,' 
not  by  '  captivitas,'  as  Dr.  FausboU  proposes.  The  same  scholar 
translates  kali  in  our  verse  by  '  peccatum.'  If  there  is  any  ob- 
jection to  translating  kali  in  Pali  by  '  unlucky  die,'  I  should  still 
prefer  to  take  it  in  the  sense  of  the  age  of  depravity,  or  the  demon 
of  depravity.  To  judge  from  Abhidhanappadipika,  1106,  kali  was 
used  for  para§-aya,  i.  e.  loss  at  game,  a  losing  throw,  and  occurs  in 
that  sense  again  in  verse  252.  The  Chinese  translation  has,  '  there 
is  no  distress  (poison)  worse  than  hate.'  A  similar  verse  occurs 
Mahabh.  ^Santip.  175,  v.  35. 

'  Body '  for  khandha  is  a  free  translation,  but  it  is  difficult  to  find 
any  other  rendering.  The  Chinese  translation  also  has  '  body.' 
According  to  the  Buddhists  each  sentient  being  consists  of  five 
khandhas  (skandha),  or  aggregates,  the  organized  body  (rupa- 
khandha)  with  its  four  internal  capacities  of  sensation  (vedana), 
perception  {ssingna.),  conception  (sa?;^skara),  knowledge  (vi^wana). 
See  Burnouf,  Introd.  pp.  589,  634;  Lotus,  p.  335. 

203.  Sa7«skara  is  the  fourth  of  the  five  khandhas,  but  the  com- 
mentator takes  it  here,  as  well  as  in  verse  255,  for  the  five  khandhas 
together,  in  which  case  we  can  only  translate  it  by  '  body.'  See 
also  verse  278.  Childers  proposes  'organic  fife'  (Notes  on  Dham- 
mapada,  p.  i).  There  is,  however,  another  saw^skara,  that  which 
follows  immediately  upon  avidya, '  ignorance,'  as  the  second  of  the 
nidanas,  or  '  causes  of  existence,'  and  this  too  might  be  called  the 
greatest  pain,  considering  that  it  is  the  cause  of  birth,  which  is  the 
cause  of  all  pain.     Sawskara  seems  sometimes  to  have  a  different 


HAPPINESS.  55 


204.  Health  is  the  greatest  of  gifts,  contented- 
ness  the  best  riches ;  trust  is  the  best  of  relation- 
ships, Nirva;2a  the  highest  happiness. 

205.  He  who  has  tasted  the  sweetness  of  solitude 
and  tranquillity,  is  free  from  fear  and  free  from  sin, 
while  he  tastes  the  sweetness  of  drinking  in  the 
law. 

206.  The  sight  of  the  elect  (Arya)  is  good,  to  live 
with  them  is  always  happiness  ;  if  a  man  does  not 
see  fools,  he  will  be  truly  happy. 

207.  He  who  walks  in  the  company  of  fools  suf- 
fers a  long  way ;  company  with  fools,  as  with  an 
enemy,  is  always  painful ;  ^^ompany  with  th£_wise  is 
pleasure,  like  meeting  with  kinsfolk.'" 

208.  Therefore,  one  ought  to  follow  the  wise,  the 
intelligent,  the  learned,  the  much  enduring,  the  du- 
tiful, the  elect ;  one  ought  to  follow  a  good  and  wise 
man,  as  the  moon  follows  the  path  of  the  stars. 

and  less  technical  meaning,  being  used  in  the  sense  of  conceptions, 
plans,  desires,  as,  for  instance,  in  verse  368,  where  sankharana/;z 
khayam  is  used  much  like  ta/?ihakhaya.  Again,  in  his  comment  on 
verse  75,  Buddhaghosa  says,  upadhiviveko  sankharasahga«ika/?? 
vinodeti ;  and  again,  upadhiviveko  >^a  nirupadhinaw  puggalanara 
visafikharagatanam. 

For  a  similar  sentiment,  see  Stanislas  Julien,  Les  Avadanas,  vol.  i. 
p.  40,  '  Le  corps  est  la  plus  grande  source  de  souffrance,'  &c. 
I  should  say  that  the  khandhas  in  verse  202  and  the  sahkharas  in 
verse  203  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  synonymous.  I  should  prefer  to 
read  giga.MM-pzram^  as  a  compound.  Gigakkka,  or  as  it  is  written 
in  one  MS.,  diga/^/^/za  (Sk.  ^ghatsa),  means  not  only  '  hunger,'  but 
'  appetite,  desire.' 

204.  Childers  translates, '  the  best  kinsman  is  a  man  you  can  trust.' 

205.  Cf.  Suttanipata,  v.  256. 

208.  I  should  like  to  read  sukho  ka.  dhirasa/^ivaso. 


56  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XVI. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

PLEASURE. 

209.  He  who  gives  himself  to  vanity,  and  does 
not  give  himself  to  meditation,  forgetting  the  real 
aim  (of  life)  and  grasping  at  pleasure,  will  in  time 
envy  him  who  has  exerted  himself  in  meditation. 

210.  Let  no  man  ever  look  for  what  is  pleasant, 
or  what  is  unpleasant.  Not  to  see  what  is  pleasant 
is  pain,  and  it  is  pain  to  see  what  is  unpleasant. 

211.  Let,  therefore,  no  man  love  anything  ;  loss 
of  the  beloved  is  evil.  Those  who  love  nothing, 
and  hate  nothing,  have  no  fetters. 

2 1 2.  From  pleasure  comes  grief,  from  pleasure 
comes  fear  ;  he  who  is  free  from  pleasure  knows 
neither  grief  nor  fear. 

213.  From  affection  comes  grief,  from  affection 
comes  fear ;  he  who  is  free  from  affection  knows 
neither  grief  nor  fear. 

214.  From  lust  comes  grief,  from  lust  comes 
fear ;  he  who  is  free  from  lust  knows  neither  grief 
nor  fear. 

215.  From  love  comes  grief,  from  love  comes 
fear ;  he  who  is  free  from  love  knows  neither  grief 
nor  fear. 

216.  From  greed  comes  grief,  from  greed  comes 
fear  ;  he  who  is  free  from  greed  knows  neither  grief 
nor  fear. 

217.  He  who  possesses  virtue  and   intelligence, 

214.  See  Beal,  Catena,  p.  200. 


PLEASURE.  57 


who  is  just,  speaks  the  truth,  and  does  what  is  his 
own  business,  him  the  world  will  hold  dear. 

218.  He  in  whom  a  desire  for  the  Ineffable  (Nir- 
va;2a)  has  sprung  up,  who  is  satisfied  in  his  mind, 
and  whose  thoughts  are  not  bewildered  by  love,  he 
is  called  tirdhva;;/srotas  (carried  upwards  by  the 
stream). 

219.  Kinsmen,  friends,  and  lovers  salute  a  man 
who  has  been  long  away,  and  returns  safe  from 
afar. 

220.  In  like  manner  his  good  works  receive  him 
who  has  done  good,  and  has  grone  from  this  world 
to  the  other  ; — as  kinsmen  receive  a  friend  on  his 
return. 

218.  IJrdhva/?isrotas  or  uddhawsoto  is  the  technical  name  for 
one  who  has  reached  the  world  of  the  Av/Vhas  (Aviha),  and  is  pro- 
ceeding to  that  of  the  AkanishMas  (Akani///^a).  This  is  the  last 
stage  before  he  reaches  the  formless  world,  the  Arupadhatu.  (See 
Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  p.  123;  Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  599.) 
Originally  urdhvawsrotas  may  have  been  used  in  a  less  technical 
sense,  meaning  one  who  swims  against  the  stream,  and  is  not 
carried  away  by  the  vulgar  passions  of  the  world. 


[10]  h 


58  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XVII. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

ANGER. 


221.  Let  a  man  leave  anger,  let  him  forsake  pride, 
let  him  overcome  all  bondage !  No  sufferings  befall 
the  man  who  is  not  attached  to  name  and  form,  and 
who  calls  nothing  his  own. 

222.  He  who  holds  back  rising  anger  like  a  rolling 
chariot,  him  I  call  a  real  driver  ;  other  people  are 
but  holding  the  reins. 

223.  Let  a  man  overcome  anger  by  love,  let  him 
overcome  evil  by  good  ;  let  him  overcome  the  greedy 
by  liberality,  the  liar  by  truth  ! 

224.  Speak  the  truth,  do  not  yield  to  anger  ;  give, 
if  thou  art  asked  for  little ;  by  these  three  steps 
thou  wilt  go  near  the  gods. 

225.  The  sages  who  injure  nobody,  and  who 
always  control  their  body,  they  will  go  to  the  un- 
changeable place  (Nirva;za),  where,  if  they  have 
gone,  they  will  suffer  no  more. 

226.  Those  who  are  ever  watchful,  who  study  day 
and  night,  and  who  strive  after  Nirva/^a,  their  pas- 
sions will  come  to  an  end. 

227.  This  is  an  old  saying,  O  Atula,  this  is  not 
only  of  to-day  :  '  They  blame  him  who  sits  silent, 

221.  'Name  and  form'  or  'mind  and  body'  is  the  translation 
of  nama-rupa,  the  ninth  of  the  Buddhist  Nidanas.  Cf.  Burnouf, 
Introduction,  p.  501;  see  also  Gogerly,  Lecture  on  Buddhism,  and 
Bigandet,  The  Life  of  Gaudama,  p.  454. 

223.  Mahabh.  XII,  3550,  asadhu/?i  sadhuna  ^ayet.  Cf.  Ten 
Gatakas,  ed.  Fausboll,  p.  5. 

227.  It  appears  from  the  commentary  that  porawam  and  a^^ata- 
nain  are  neuters,  referring  to  what  happened  formerly  and  what 


ANGER.  59 

they  blame  him  who  speaks  much,  they  also  blame 
him  who  says  little  ;  there  is  no  one  on  earth  who 
is  not  blamed. 

228.  There  never  was,  there  never  will  be,  nor  is 
there  now,  a  man  who  is  always  blamed,  or  a  man 
who  is  always  praised. 

229.  230.  But  he  whom  those  who  discriminate 
praise  continually  day  after  day,  as  without  blemish, 
wise,  rich  in  knowledge  and  virtue,  who  would  dare 
to  blame  him,  like  a  coin  made  of  gold  from  the 
6^ambu  river  ?  Even  the  gods  praise  him,  he  is 
praised  even  by  Brahman. 

231.  Beware  of  bodily  anger,  and  control  thy 
body  !  Leave  the  sins  of  the  body,  and  with  thy 
body  practise  virtue ! 

232.  Beware  of  the  anger  of  the  tongue,  and  con- 
trol thy  tongue !  Leave  the  sins  of  the  tongue,  and 
practise  virtue  with  thy  tongue! 

233.  Beware  of  the  anger  of  the  mind,  and  con- 
trol thy  mind  !  Leave  the  sins  of  the  mind,  and 
practise  virtue  with  thy  mind ! 

234.  The  wise  who  control  their  body,  who  con- 
trol their  tongue,  the  wise  who  control  their  mind, 
are  indeed  well  controlled. 

happens  to-day,  and  that  they  are  not  to  be  taken  as  adjectives 
referring  to  asinam,  &c.  The  commentator  must  have  read  atula 
instead  of  atulani,  and  he  explains  it  as  the  name  of  a  pupil  whom 
Gautama  addressed  by  that  name.  This  may  be  so  (see  note  to 
verse  166);  but  atula  may  also  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  incom- 
parable (INIahabh,  XIII,  1937),  and  in  that  case  we  ought  to  supply, 
with  Professor  Weber,  some  such  word  as  '  saw '  or  '  saying,' 

230.  The  Brahman  worlds  are  higher  that  the  Deva  worlds  as 
the  Brahman  is  higher  than  a  Deva;  see  Hardy,  Manual,  p.  25; 
Burnouf,  Introduction,  pp.  134,  184. 


h   2 


6o  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XVIII. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

IMPURITY. 

235.  Thou  art  now  like  a  sear  leaf,  the  messen- 
gers of  death  (Yama)  have  come  near  to  thee  ;  thou 
standest  at  the  door  of  thy  departure,  and  thou  hast 
no  provision  for  thy  journey. 

236.  Make  thyself  an  island,  work  hard,  be  wise! 
When  thy  impurities  are  blown  away,  and  thou  art 
free  from  guilt,  thou  wilt  enter  into  the  heavenly 
world  of  the  elect  (Ariya). 

237.  Thy  life  has  come  to  an  end,  thou  art  come 
near  to  death  (Yama),  there  is  no  resting-place  for 
thee  on  the  road,  and  thou  hast  no  provision  for 
thy  journey. 

238.  Make  thyself  an  island,  work  hard,  be  wise  1 
When  thy  impurities  are  blown  away,  and  thou  art 
free  from  guilt,  thou  wilt  not  enter  again  into  birth 
and  decay. 

239.  Let  a  wise  man  blow  off  the  impurities  of 
his  self,  as  a  smith  blows  off  the  impurities  of  silver, 
one  by  one,  little  by  little,  and  from  time  to  time. 

240.  As  the  impurity  which  springs  from  the  iron, 

235.  Uyyoga  seems  to  mean  departure.  See  Buddhaghosa's 
commentary  on  verse  152,  p.  319,  1.  i;   Fausboll,  Five  Gatakas, 

P-  35- 

236.  '  An  island,'  for  a  drowning  man  to  save  himself;  (see  verse 
25.)  Dipahkara  is  the  name  of  one  of  the  former  Buddhas,  and  it 
is  also  used  as  an  appellative  of  the  Buddha,  but  is  always  derived 
from  dipo, '  a  lamp.' 

239.  This  verse  is  the  foundation  of  the  thirty-fourth  section  of 
the  Sutra  of  the  forty-two  sections;  see  Beal,  Catena,  p.  201;  Sutta- 
nipata,  v.  962. 


IMPURITY.  6 1 


when  it  springs  from  it,  destroys  it ;  thus  do  a  trans- 
gressor's own  works  lead  him  to  the  evil  path. 

241.  The  taint  of  prayers  is  non-repetition;  the 
taint  of  houses,  non-repair  ;  the  taint  of  the  body  is 
sloth  ;  the  taint  of  a  watchman,  thoughtlessness. 

242.  Bad  conduct  is  the  taint  of  woman,  greedi- 
ness the  taint  of  a  benefactor ;  tainted  are  all  evil 
ways,  in  this  world  and  in  the  next. 

243.  But  there  is  a  taint  worse  than  all  taints, — 
ignorance  is  the  greatest  taint.  O  mendicants ! 
throw  off  that  taint,  and  become  taintless  ! 

244.  Life  is  easy  to  live  for  a  man  who  is  without 
shame,  a  crow  hero,  a  mischief-maker,  an  insulting, 
bold,  and  wretched  fellow. 

245.  But  life  is  hard  to  live  for  a  modest  man, 
who  always  looks  for  what  is  pure,  who  is  disinter- 
ested, quiet,  spotless,  and  intelligent. 

246.  He  who  destroys  life,  who  speaks  untruth, 
who  in  this  world  takes  what  is  not  given  him,  who 
goes  to  another  man's  wife  ; 

247.  And  the  man  who  gives  himself  to  drinking 
intoxicating  liquors,  he,  even  in  this  world,  digs  up 
his  own  root. 

248.  O  man,  know  this,  that  the  unrestrained  are 
in  a  bad  state  ;  take  care  that  greediness  and  vice 
do  not  bring  thee  to  grief  for  a  long  time  ! 

244.  Pakkhandin  is  identified  by  Dr.  FausboU  with  praskandin, 
one  who  jumps  forward,  insults,  or,  as  Buddhaghosa  explains  it, 
one  who  meddles  with  other  people's  business,  an  interloper.  At 
all  events,  it  is  a  term  of  reproach,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  of  theo- 
logical reproach. 

246.  On  the  five  principal  commandments  which  are  recapitu- 
lated in  verses  246  and  247,  see  Buddhaghosha's  Parables,  p.  153. 

248.  Cf.  Mahabharata  XII,  4055,  yesham  vriUis  k,x  sa;;zyata. 
See  also  verse  307. 


62  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XVIII. 

249.  The  world  gives  according  to  their  faith  or 
according  to  their  pleasure  :  if  a  man  frets  about 
the  food  and  the  drink  given  to  others,  he  will  find 
no  rest  either  by  day  or  by  night. 

250.  He  in  whom  that  feeling  is  destroyed,  and 
taken  out  with  the  very  root,  finds  rest  by  day  and 
by  night. 

251.  There  is  no  fire  like  passion,  there  is  no 
shark  like  hatred,  there  is  no  snare  like  folly,  there 
is  no  torrent  like  greed. 

252.  The  fault  of  others  is  easily  perceived,  but 
that  of  oneself  is  difficult  to  perceive  ;  a  man  win- 
nows his  neighbour's  faults  like  chaff,  but  his  own 
fault  he  hides,  as  a  cheat  hides  the  bad  die  from  the 
gambler. 

253.  If  a  man  looks  after  the  faults  of  others,  and 
is  always  inclined  to  be  offended,  his  own  passions 
will  grow,  and  he  is  far  from  the  destruction  of 
passions. 

254.  There  is  no  path  through  the  air,  a  man 
is   not   a   Sama/^a    by   outward   acts.      The    world 

249.  This  verse  has  evidently  regard  to  the  feelings  of  the  Bhik- 
shus  or  mendicants  who  receive  either  much  or  little,  and  who  are 
exhorted  not  to  be  envious  if  others  receive  more  than  they  them- 
selves.    Several  of  the  Parables  illustrate  this  feeling. 

251.  Dr.  Fausboll  translates  gaho  by  '  captivitas,' Dr.  Weber  by 
'  fetter.'  I  take  it  in  the  same  sense  as  graha  in  Manu  VI,  78  ;  and 
Buddhaghosa  does  the  same,  though  he  assigns  to  graha  a  more 
general  meaning,  viz.  anything  that  seizes,  whether  an  evil  spirit 
(yakkha),  a  serpent  (a^agara),  or  a  crocodile  (kumbhila). 

Greed  or  thirst  is  represented  as  a  river  in  Lalita-vistara,  ed. 
Calc.  p.  482,  trish?ia-nadi  tivega  prajoshita  me  ^ilanasuryewa, '  the 
wild  river  of  thirst  is  dried  up  by  the  sun  of  my  knowledge.' 

252.  See  Childers,  Notes,  p.  7;  St.  Matthew  vii.  3. 

253.  As  to  asava,  'appetite,  passion,'  see  note  to  verse  39. 

254.  I  have  translated  this  verse  very  freely,  and  not  in  accord- 


IMPURITY.  63 


delights  in  vanity,  the  Tathagatas  (the  Buddhas) 
are  free  from  vanity, 

255.  There  is  no  path  through  the  air,  a  man 
is  not  a  Sama;^a  by  outward  acts.  No  creatures 
are  eternal  ;  but  the  awakened  (Buddha)  are  never 
shaken. 

ance  with  Buddhaghosa's  commentary.  Dr.  Fausboll  proposed  to 
translate,  '  No  one  who  is  outside  t  e  Buddhist  community  can 
walk  through  the  air,  but  only  a  Samawa;'  and  the  same  view  is 
taken  by  Professor  Weber,  though  he  arrives  at  it  by  a  different 
construction.  Now  it  is  perfectly  true  that  the  idea  of  magical  powers 
(r/ddhi)  which  enable  saints  to  walk  through  the  air,  &c.,  occurs  in 
the  Dhammapada,  see  v.  175,  note.  But  the  Dhammapada  may 
contain  earlier  and  later  verses,  and  in  that  case  our  verse  might  be 
an  early  protest  on  the  part  of  Buddha  against  the  belief  in  such 
miraculous  powers.  We  know  how  Buddha  himself  protested 
against  his  disciples  being  called  upon  to  perform  vulgar  miracles. 
'  I  command  my  disciples  not  to  work  miracles,'  he  said, '  but  to 
hide  their  good  deeds,  and  to  show  their  sins'  (Burnouf,  Introd. 
p.  170).  It  would  be  in  harmony  with  this  sentiment  if  we  trans- 
lated our  verse  as  I  have  done.  As  to  bahira,  I  should  take  it  in 
the  sense  of  'external,'  as  opposed  to  adhyatmika,  or  'internal;' 
and  the  meaning  would  be,  '  a  Samawa  is  not  a  Sama?/a  by  out- 
ward acts,  but  by  his  heart.'  D'Alwis  translates  (p.  85) :  '  There  is 
no  footprint  in  the  air ;  there  is  not  a  Sama^za  out  of  the  pale  of 
the  Buddhist  community.' 

Prapa?l/^a,  which  I  have  here  translated  by  '  vanity,'  seems  to 
include  the  whole  host  of  human  weaknesses  ;  cf.  v.  196,  where  it  is 
explained  by  ta/;/hadi/Mimanapapa«vC'a ;  in  our  verse  by  ta/^zhadisu 
papaw/^esu:  cf.  Lalita-vistara,  p.  564,  analayawz  nishprapaw-^am 
anutpadam  asambhavam  (dharma/('akram).  As  to  Tathagata,  a 
name  of  Buddha,  cf.  Burnouf,  Introd.  p.  75. 

255.  Sahkhara  for  saw/skara;  cf.  note  to  verse  203.  Creature 
does  not,  as  Mr.  D'Alwis  (p.  69)  supposes,  involve  the  Christian 
conception  of  creation. 


64  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XIX. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    JUST. 

256,  257.  A  man  is  not  just  if  he  carries  a  matter 
by  violence  ;  no,  he  who  distinguishes  both  right 
and  wrong,  who  is  learned  and  leads  others,  not  by 
violence,  but  by  law  and  equity,  and  who  is  guarded 
by  the  law  and  intelligent,  he  is  called  just. 

258.  A  man  is  not  learned  because  he  talks  much  ; 
he  who  is  patient,  free  from  hatred  and  fear,  he  is 
called  learned. 

259.  A  man  is  not  a  supporter  of  the  law  because 
he  talks  much ;  even  if  a  man  has  learnt  little,  but 
sees  the  law  bodily,  he  is  a  supporter  of  the  law, 
a  man  who  never  neglects  the  law. 

260.  A  man  is  not  an  elder  because  his  head  is 
grey ;  his  age  may  be  ripe,  but  he  is  called  '  Old- 
in-vain.' 

261.  He  in  whom  there  is  truth,  virtue,  love, 
restraint,  moderation,  he  who  is  free  from  impurity 
and  is  wise,  he  is  called  an  elder. 

262.  An  envious,  greedy,  dishonest  man  does  not 
become  respectable  by  means  of  much  talking  only, 
or  by  the  beauty  of  his  complexion. 

263.  He  in  whom  all  this  is  destroyed,  and  taken 
out  with  the  very  root,  he,  when  freed  from  hatred 
and  wise,  is  called  respectable. 

259.  Buddhaghosa  here  takes  law  (dhamma)  in  the  sense  of 
the  four  great  truths,  see  note  to  verse  190.  Could  dhamma»z 
kayena  passati  mean,  'he  observes  the  law  in  his  acts?'  Hardly, 
if  we  compare  expressions  like  dhamma^  vipassato,  v.  373. 


THE   JUST.  65 

264.  Not  by  tonsure  does  an  undisciplined  man 
who  speaks  falsehood  become  a  Sama?^a ;  can  a 
man  be  a  Sama/^a  who  is  still  held  captive  by  desire 
and  greediness  ? 

265.  He  who  always  quiets  the  evil,  whether 
small  or  large,  he  is  called  a  Sama;2a  (a  quiet  man), 
because  he  has  quieted  all  evil. 

266.  A  man  is  not  a  mendicant  (Bhikshu)  simply 
because  he  asks  others  for  alms  ;  he  who  adopts 
the  whole  law  is  a  Bhikshu,  not  he  who  only  begs. 

267.  He  who  is  above  good  and  evil,  who  is 
chaste,  who  with  knowledge  passes  through  the 
world,  he  indeed  is  called  a  Bhikshu. 

268.  269.  A  man  is  not  a  Muni  because  he  ob- 
serves silence  (mona,   i.  e.   mauna),  if  he  is  foolish 


265.  This  is  a  curious  etymology,  because  it  shows  that  at  the 
time  when  this  verse  was  written,  the  original  meaning  of  jrama«a 
had  been  forgotten.  6'ramawa  meant  originally,  in  the  language 
of  the  Brahmans,  a  man  who  performed  hard  penances,  from  jram, 
'  to  work  hard,'  &c.  When  it  became  the  name  of  the  Buddhist 
ascetics,  the  language  had  changed,  and  jrama^a  was  pronounced 
sama«a.  Now  there  is  another  Sanskrit  root,  jam, '  to  quiet,'  which 
in  Pali  becomes  likewise  sam,  and  from  this  root  sam,  '  to  quiet,' 
and  not  from  sram, '  to  tire,'  did  the  popular  etymology  of  the  day 
and  the  writer  of  our  verse  derive  the  title  of  the  Buddhist  priests. 
The  original  form  jramawa  became  known  to  the  Greeks  as  Sap- 
fjLai/ni,  that  of  sama«a  as  Sa/iamlot ;  the  former  through  Megasthenes, 
the  latter  through  Bardesanes,  80-60  b.c.  (See  Lassen,  Indische 
Alterthumskunde,  II,  700.)  The  Chinese  Shamen  and  the  Tun- 
gusian  Shamen  come  from  the  same  source,  though  the  latter  has 
sometimes  been  doubted.  See  Schott,  Uber  die  doppelte  Bedeutung 
des  Wortes  Schamane,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the 
Berlin  Academy,  1842,  p.  463  seq. 

266-270.  The  etymologies  here  given  of  the  ordinary  titles  of 
the  followers  of  Buddha  are  entirely  fanciful,  and  are  curious  only 
as  showing  how  the  people  who  spoke  Pali  had  lost  the  etymo- 
logical consciousness  of  their  language.     A  Bhikshu  is  a  beggar, 


66  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.   XIX. 

and  ignorant ;  but  the  wise  who,  taking  the  balance, 
chooses  the  good  and  avoids  evil,  he  is  a  Muni, 
and  is  a  Muni  thereby ;  he  who  in  this  world 
weiofhs  both  sides  is  called  a  Muni, 

270.  A  man  is  not  an  elect  (Ariya)  because  he 
injures  living  creatures  ;  because  he  has  pity  on  all 
living  creatures,  therefore  is  a  man  called  Ariya. 

271.  272,  Not  only  by  discipline  and  vows,  not 
only  by  much  learning,  not  by  entering  into  a  trance, 
not  by  sleeping  alone,  do  I  earn  the  happiness  of 
release  which  no  worldling  can  know.  Bhikshu,  be 
not  confident  as  long  as  thou  hast  not  attained  the 
extinction  of  desires. 

i.  e.  a  Buddhist  friar  who  has  left  his  family  and  lives  entirely  on 
alms.  Muni  is  a  sage,  hence  ^akya-muni,  a  name  of  Gautama. 
Muni  comes  from  man,  '  to  think,'  and  from  muni  comes  mauna, 
'  silence.'  Ariya,  again,  is  the  general  name  of  those  who  embrace 
a  religious  life.  It  meant  originally  '  respectable,  noble.'  In  verse 
270  it  seems  as  if  the  writer  wished  to  guard  against  deriving  ariya 
from  ari, '  enemy.'     See  note  to  verse  22. 

272.  See  Childers,  Notes,  p.  7. 


THE    WAY,  6"] 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    WAY. 

273.  The  best  of  ways  is  the  eightfold  ;  the  best 
of  truths  the  four  words ;  the  best  of  virtues 
passionlessness  ;  the  best  of  men  he  who  has  eyes 
to  see. 

274.  This  is  the  way,  there  is  no  other  that  leads 
to  the  purifying  of  intelligence.  Go  on  this  way ! 
Everything  else  is  the  deceit  of  Mara  (the  tempter). 

275.  If  you  go  on  this  way,  you  will  make  an  end 
of  pain !  The  way  was  preached  by  me,  when  I  had 
understood  the  removal  of  the  thorns  (in  the  flesh). 

276.  You  yourself  must  make  an  effort.  The 
Tathagatas  (Buddhas)  are  only  preachers.  The 
thoughtful  who  enter  the  way  are  freed  from  the 
bondage  of  Mara. 

277.  'All  created  things  perish,'  he  who  knows 
and  sees  this  becomes  passive  in  pain  ;  this  is  the 
way  to  purity. 

273.  The  eightfold  or  eight-mem bered  way  is  the  technical  term 
for  the  way  by  which  Nirva«a  is  attained.  (See  Burnouf,  Lotus, 
p.  519)  This  very  way  constitutes  the  fourth  of  the  Four  Truths, 
or  the  four  words  of  truth,  viz.  Du//kha, '  pain  ;'  Samudaya, '  origin  ;' 
Nirodha, 'destruction;'  Marga, '  road.'  (Lotus,  p.  517.)  See  note 
to  verse  178.  For  another  explanation  of  the  Marga,  or  '  way,'  see 
Hardy,  Eastern  Monachism,  p.  280. 

274.  The  last  line  may  mean, 'this  way  is  the  confusion  of  Mara,' 
i.  e.  the  discomfiture  of  Mara. 

275.  The  jalyas, '  arrows  or  thorns,'  are  the  joka^-alya, '  the  arrows 
of  grief.'  Buddha  himself  is  called  mahajalya-harta,  '  the  great 
remover  of  thorns.'     (Lalita-vistara,  p.  550  ;  Mahabh.  XII,  5616.) 

277.  See  v.  255. 


68  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XX. 

278.  'All  created  things  are  grief  and  pain,' he 
who  knows  and  sees  this  becomes  passive  in  pain  ; 
this  is  the  way  that  leads  to  purity. 

279.  'All  forms  are  unreal,'  he  who  knows  and 
sees  this  becomes  passive  in  pain ;  this  is  the  way 
that  leads  to  purity. 

280.  He  who  does  not  rouse  himself  when  it  is 
time  to  rise,  who,  though  young  and  strong,  is  full 
of  sloth,  whose  will  and  thought  are  weak,  that  lazy 
and  idle  man  will  never  find  the  way  to  knowledge. 

_    281.  Watching  his  speech,  well  restrained  in  mind, 
"let  a  man  never  commit  any  wrong  with  his  body! 

Let  a  man  but  keep  these  three  roads  of  action  clear, 

and  he  will  achieve  the  way  which  is  taught  by  the 

wise. 

282.  Through  zeal  knowledge  is  gotten,  through 

lack  of  zeal  knowledge  is  lost ;  let  a  man  who  knows 

this  double  path  of  gain  and  loss  thus  place  himself 

that  knowledge  may  grow. 
'=r    283.   Cut  down   the  whole  forest  (of  lust),  not  a 

tree  only  !    Danger  comes  out  of  the  forest  (of  lust). 

When  you  have  cut  down  both  the  forest  (of  lust) 

and  its   undergrowth,   then,    Bhikshus,  you  will   be 

rid  of  the  forest  and  free  ! 

278.  See  V.  203. 

279.  Dhamma  is  here  explained,  like  safikhara,  as  the  five 
khandha,  i.  e.  as  what  constitutes  a  living  body. 

281.  Cf.  Beal,  Catena,  p.  159. 

282.  Bhuri  was  rightly  translated  '  intelligentia'  by  Dr.  Fausboll. 
Dr.  Weber  renders  it  by  '  Gedeihen,'  but  the  commentator  distinctly 
explains  it  as  'vast  knowledge,'  and  in  the  technical  sense  the 
word  occurs  after  vidya  and  before  medha,  in  the  Lalita-vistara, 
p.  541. 

283.  A  pun,  vana  meaning  both  'lust'  and  'forest.'  See  some 
mistaken  remarks  on  this  verse  in  D'Alwis,  Nirvawa,  p.  86,  and 
some  good  remarks  in  Childers,  Notes,  p.  7. 


THE    WAY.  69 

284.  So  long  as  the  love  of  man  towards  women, 
even  the  smallest,  is  not  destroyed,  so  long  is  his 
mind  in  bondage,  as  the  calf  that  drinks  milk  is  to 
its  mother. 

285.  Cut  out  the  love  of  self,  like  an  autumn  lotus, 
with  thy  hand!  Cherish  the  road  of  peace.  Nir- 
va;2a  has  been  shown  by  Sugata  (Buddha). 

286.  '  Here  I  shall  dwell  in  the  rain,  here  in  winter 
and  summer,'  thus  the  fool  meditates,  and  does  not 
think  of  his  death. 

287.  Death  comes  and  carries  off  that  man,  praised 
for  his  children  and  flocks,  his  mind  distracted,  as  a 
flood  carries  off  a  sleeping  village. 

288.  Sons  are  no  help,  nor  a  father,  nor  relations  ; 
there  is  no  help  from  kinsfolk  for  one  whom  death 
has  seized. 

289.  A  wise  and  good  man  who  knows  the  mean- 
ing of  this,  should  quickly  clear  the  way  that  leads 
to  Nirva;2a. 

285.  Cf.  G^ataka,  vol.  i.  p.  183. 

286.  Antaraya,  according  to  the  commentator,  ^ivitantaraya, 
i.  e.  interitus,  death.  In  Sanskrit,  antarita  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
'  vanished'  or  '  perished.' 

287.  See  notes  to  verse  47,  Thiessen,  Kisagotami,  p.  11,  and 
Mahabh.  XII,  9944,  6540. 


70  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXI. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

290.  If  by  leaving  a  small  pleasure  one  sees  a 
great  pleasure,  let  a  wise  man  leave  the  small  plea- 
sure, and  look  to  the  great. 

291.  He  who,  by  causing  pain  to  others,  wishes 
to  obtain  pleasure  for  himself,  he,  entangled  in  the 
bonds  of  hatred,  will  never  be  free  from  hatred. 

292.  What  ought  to  be  done  is  neglected,  what 
ought  not  to  be  done  is  done  ;  the  desires  of  unruly, 
thoughtless  people  are  always  increasing. 

293.  But  they  whose  whole  watchfulness  is  always 
directed  to  their  body,  who  do  not  follow  what  ought 
not  to  be  done,  and  who  steadfastly  do  what  ought 
to  be  done,  the  desires  of  such  watchful  and  wise 
people  will  come  to  an  end. 

294.  A  true  Brahma?^a  goes  scatheless,  though  he 
have  killed  father  and  mother,  and  two  valiant  kings, 
though  he  has  destroyed  a  kingdom  with  all  its 
subjects. 

295.  A  true  Brahma7^a  goes  scatheless,  though  he 
have  killed  father  and  mother,  and  two  holy  kings, 
and  an  eminent  man  besides. 

292.  Cf.  Beal,  Catena,  p.  264. 

294,  295.  These  two  verses  are  either  meant  to  show  that  a 
truly  holy  man  who,  by  accident,  commits  all  these  crimes  is  guilt- 
less, or  they  refer  to  some  particular  event  in  Buddha's  history. 
The  commentator  is  so  startled  that  he  explains  them  allegorically. 
Mr.  D'Alwis  is  very  indignant  that  I  should  have  supposed  Buddha 
capable  of  pardoning  patricide.  '  Can  it  be  believed,'  he  writes, 
'  that  a  Teacher,  who  held  life,  even  the  life  of  the  minutest  insect, 


MISCELLANEOUS.  7 1 


296.  The  disciples  of  Gotama  (Buddha)  are  always 
well  awake,  and  their  thoughts  day  and  night  are 
always  set  on  Buddha. 

297.  The  disciples  of  Gotama  are  always  well 
awake,  and  their  thoughts  day  and  night  are  always 
set  on  the  law. 

298.  The  disciples  of  Gotama  are  always  well 
awake,  and  their  thoughts  day  and  night  are  always 
set  on  the  church. 

299.  The  disciples  of  Gotama  are  always  well 
awake,  and  their  thoughts  day  and  night  are  alwa}s 
set  on  their  body. 

nay,  even  a  living  tree,  in  such  high  estimation  as  to  prevent  its 
wanton  destruction,  has  declared  that  the  murder  of  a  Brahmawa,  to 
whom  he  accorded  reverence,  along  with  his  own  Sangha,was  blame- 
less?' D'Ahvis,  Nirvana,  p.  88.  Though  something  might  be  said  in 
reply,  considering  the  antecedents  of  king  A^ata^atru,  the  patron  of 
Buddha,  and  stories  such  as  that  quoted  by  the  commentator  on  the 
Dhammapada  (Beal,  I.e.  p.  i5o),or  inDerWeise  und  derThor,  p.306, 
still  these  two  verses  are  startKng,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  Buddha 
has  himself  drawn  the  conclusion,  which  has  been  drawn  by  others, 
viz.  that  those  who  have  reached  the  highest  Sambodhi,  and  are  in 
fact  no  longer  themselves,  are  outside  the  domain  of  good  and  bad, 
and  beyond  the  reach  of  guilt.  Verses  Hke  39  and  412  admit  of  a 
different  explanation.  Still  our  verses  being  miscellaneous  extracts, 
might  possibly  have  been  taken  from  a  work  in  which  such  an 
opinion  was  advanced,  and  I  find  that  Mr.  Childers,  no  mean 
admirer  of  Buddha,  was  not  shocked  by  my  explanation.  *  In  my 
judgment,'  he  says, '  this  verse  is  intended  to  express  in  a  forcible 
manner  the  Buddhist  doctrine  that  the  Arhat  cannot  commit  a 
serious  sin.'  However,  we  have  met  before  with  far-fetched  puns 
in  these  verses,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  native  commen- 
tators were  right  after  all  in  seeing  some  puns  or  riddles  in  this 
verse.  D'Alwis,  following  the  commentary,  explains  mother  as 
lust,  father  as  pride,  the  two  valiant  kings  as  heretical  systems, 
and  the  realm  as  sensual  pleasure,  while  veyyaggha  is  taken  by 
him  for  a  place  infested  with  the  tigers  of  obstruction  against 
final  beatitude.     Some  confirmation  of  this  interpretation  is  sup- 


72  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXI. 

300.  The  disciples  of  Gotama  are  always  well 
awake,  and  their  mind  day  and  night  always  de- 
lights in  compassion. 

301.  The  disciples  of  Gotama  are  always  well 
awake,  and  their  mind  day  and  night  always  de- 
lights in  meditation. 

302.  It  is  hard  to  leave  the  world  (to  become 
a  friar),  it  is  hard  to  enjoy  the  world;  hard  is  the 
monastery,  painful  are  the  houses  ;  painful  it  is  to 
dwell  with  equals  {to  share  everything  in  common), 
and  the  itinerant  mendicant  is  beset  with  pain. 
Therefore  let  no  man  be  an  itinerant  mendicant, 
and  he  will  not  be  beset  with  pain. 

303.  Whatever  place  a  faithful,  virtuous,  cele- 
brated, and  wealthy  man  chooses,  there  he  is  re- 
spected. 

304.  Good  people  shine  from  afar,  like  the  snowy 

plied  by  a  passage  in  the  tl:iird  book  of  the  Lahkavatara-sutra,  as 
quoted  by  Mr.  Beal  in  his  translation  of  the  Dhammapada,  Intro- 
duction, p.  5.  Here  a  stanza  is  quoted  as  having  been  recited  by 
Buddha,  in  expkination  of  a  similar  startling  utterance  which  he 
had  made  to  Mahamati : 

'Lust,  or  carnal  desire,  this  is  the  Mother, 

Ignorance,  this  is  the  Father, 

The  highest  point  of  knowledge,  this  is  Buddha, 

All  the  kle^as,  these  are  the  Rahats, 

The  five  skandhas,  these  are  the  Priests; 

To  commit  the  five  unpardonable  sins 

Is  to  destroy  these  five 

And  yet  not  suffer  the  pains  of  hell.' 
The  Lahkavatara-sutra  was  translated  into  Chinese  by  Bodhiru^i 
(508-511)5   when  it  was  written  is  doubtful.     See  also  Gataka, 
vol.  ii.  p.  263. 

302.  This  verse  is  difficult,  and  I  give  my  translation  as  tentative 
only.  Childers  (Notes,  p.  11)  does  not  remove  the  difficulties,  and 
I  have  been  chiefly  guided  by  the  interpretation  put  on  the  verse 
by  the  Chinese  translator;  Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  137. 


/ 


MISCELLANEOUS.  73 


mountains ;  bad   people   are   not  seen,   like   arrows 
shot  by  night. 

305.  He  alone  who,  without  ceasing,  practises  the 
duty  of  sitting  alone  and  sleeping  alone,  he,  sub- 
duing himself,  will  rejoice  in  the  destruction  of  all 
desires  alone,  as  if  living  in  a  forest. 

305.  I  have  translated  this  verse  so  as  to  bring  it  into  something 
like  harmony  with  the  preceding  verses.  Vanante,  according  to 
a  pun  pointed  out  before  (v.  283),  means  both  'in  the  end  of  a 
forest,'  and  '  in  the  end  of  desires.' 


[10] 


74  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXII. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    DOWNWARD    COURSE. 

306.  He  who  says  what  is  not,  goes  to  hell ;  he 
also  who,  having  done  a  thing,  says  I  have  not  done 
it.  After  death  both  are  equal,  they  are  men  with 
evil  deeds  in  the  next  world. 

307.  Many  men  whose  shoulders  are  covered  with 
the  yellow  gown  are  ill-conditioned  and  unrestrained  ; 
such  evil-doers  by  their  evil  deeds  go  to  hell. 

308.  Better  it  would  be  to  swallow  a  heated  iron 
ball,  like  flaring  fire,  than  that  a  bad  unrestrained 
fellow  should  live  on  the  charity  of  the  land. 

309.  Four  things  does  a  wreckless  man  gain  who 
covets  his  neighbour's  wife, — a  bad  reputation,  an 
uncomfortable  bed,  thirdly,  punishment,  and  lastly, 
hell. 


306.  I  translate  niraya, '  the  exit,  the  downward  course,  the  evil 
path,'  by  'hell,'  because  the  meaning  assigned  to  that  ancient 
mythological  name  by  Christian  writers  comes  so  near  to  the 
Buddhist  idea  of  niraya,  that  it  is  difficult  not  to  believe  in  some 
actual  contact  between  these  two  streams  of  thought.  See  also 
Mahabh.  XII,  7176.  Cf.  Gataka,  vol.  ii.  p.  416;  Suttanipata, 
V.  660. 

307,  308.  These  two  verses  are  said  to  be  taken  from  the  Vinaya- 
pi/aka  I,  4,  i;  D'Alwis,  Nirvawa,  p.  29. 

308.  The  charity  of  the  land,  i.  e.  the  alms  given,  from  a  sense 
of  religious  duty,  to  every  mendicant  that  asks  for  it. 

309,  310.  The  four  things  mentioned  in  verse  309  seem  to  be 
repeated  in  verse  310.  Therefore,  apu7w~ialabha,  'bad  fame,'  is  the 
same  in  both :  gati  papika  must  be  niraya ;  daw^a  must  be  ninda, 
and    rati   thokika   explains    the   anikamaseyyawz.      Buddhaghosa 


THE    DOWNWARD    COURSE.  75 

310.  There  is  bad  reputation,  and  the  evil  way 
(to  hell),  there  is  the  short  pleasure  of  the  frightened 
in  the  arms  of  the  frightened,  and  the  king  imposes 
heavy  punishment ;  therefore  let  no  man  think  of 
his  neigrhbour's  wife. 

311.  As  a  grass-blade,  if  badly  grasped,  cuts  the 
arm,  badly-practised  asceticism  leads  to  hell. 

312.  An  act  carelessly  performed,  a  broken  vow, 
and  hesitating  obedience  to  discipline,  all  this  brings 
no  great  reward. 

313.  If  anything  is  to  be  done,  let  a  man  do  it, 
let  him  attack  it  vigorously !  A  careless  pilgrim 
only  scatters  the  dust  of  his  passions  more  widely. 

314.  An  evil  deed  is  better  left  undone,  for  a 
man  repents  of  it  afterwards  ;  a  good  deed  is  better 
done,  for  having  done  it,  one  does  not  repent. 

315.  Like  a  well-guarded  frontier  fort,  with  de- 
fences within  and  without,  so  let  a  man  guard  him- 
self. Not  a  moment  should  escape,  for  they  who 
allow  the  right  moment  to  pass,  suffer  pain  when 
they  are  in  hell. 

316.  They  who  are  ashamed  of  what  they  ought 
not  to  be  ashamed  of,  and  are  not  ashamed  of  what 
they  ought  to  be  ashamed  of,  such  men,  embracing 
false  doctrines,  enter  the  evil  path. 

317.  They  who  fear  when  they  ought  not  to  fear, 
and  fear  not  when  they  ought  to  fear,  such  men, 
embracing  false  doctrines,  enter  the  evil  path. 


takes  the  same  view  of  the  meaning  of  anikamase)7a,  i.  e.  yatha 
ikkh^Xx  GV2im  seyyam  alabhitva.  diV\\kkh\i2im  parittakam  eva  kala»z 
seyyaw  labhati, '  not  obtaining  the  rest  as  he  wishes  it,  he  obtains 
it,  as  he  does  not  wish  it,  for  a  short  time  only/ 

313.  As  to   ra^a  meaning  'dust'  and  'passion,'  see  Buddha- 
ghosha's  Parables,  pp.  65,  66. 

i  2 


76  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXII. 

318.  They  who  forbid  when  there  is  nothing  to 
be  forbidden,  and  forbid  not  when  there  is  some- 
thing to  be  forbidden,  such  men,  embracing  false 
doctrines,  enter  the  evil  path. 

319.  They  who  know  what  is  forbidden  as  for- 
bidden, and  what  is  not  forbidden  as  not  forbidden, 
such  men,  embracing  the  true  doctrine,  enter  the 
good  path. 


THE    ELEPHANT.  "]"] 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE    ELEPHANT. 

320.  Silently  shall  I  endure  abuse  as  the  elephant 
in  battle  endures  the  arrow  sent  from  the  bow  :  for 
the  world  is  ill-natured. 

321.  They  lead  a  tamed  elephant  to  battle,  the 
king  mounts  a  tamed  elephant ;  the  tamed  is  the 
best  among  men,  he  who  silently  endures  abuse. 

322.  Mules  are  good,  if  tamed,  and  noble  Sindhu 
horses,  and  elephants  with  large  tusks  ;  but  he  w^ho 
tames  himself  is  better  still. 

323.  For  with  these  animals  does  no  man  reach 
the  untrodden  country  (Nirva;^a),  where  a  tamed 
man  goes  on  a  tamed  animal,  viz.  on  his  own  well- 
tamed  self. 

324.  The  elephant  called  Dhanapalaka,  his  tem- 
ples running  with  sap,  and  difficult  to  hold,  does  not 
eat  a  morsel  when  bound ;  the  elephant  longs  for 
the  elephant  grove. 

320.  The  elephant  is  with  the  Buddhists  the  emblem  of  endurance 
and  self-restraint.  Thus  Buddha  himself  is  called  Naga, '  the  Ele- 
phant' (Lal.Vist.  p.  553),  or  Mahanaga,  'the  great  Elephant'  (Lai. 
Vist.  p.  553),  and  in  one  passage  (Lal.Vist.  p.  554)  the  reason  of 
this  name  is  given,  by  stating  that  Buddha  was  sudanta,  '  well- 
tamed,'  like  an  elephant.  He  descended  from  heaven  in  the  form 
of  an  elephant  to  be  born  on  earth. 

Cf  Manu  VI,  47,  ativadaz^^s  titiksheta. 

323.  I  read,  as  suggested  by  Dr.  Fausboll,  yath'  attana  sudan- 
tena  danto  dantena  ga^^/^ati'  (cf  verse  160).  The  India  Office  MS. 
reads  na  hi  etehi  ///anehi  gaK'//eya  agata?;i  disam,  yath'  attanaw 
sudantena  danto  dantena  ga^/^/mti.  As  to  //^anehi  instead  of  yanehi, 
see  verse  224, 


78  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXIII. 

325.  If  a  man  becomes  fat  and  a  great  eater,  if 
he  is  sleepy  and  rolls  himself  about,  that  fool,  like 
a  hog  fed  on  wash,  is  born  again  and  again. 

326.  This  mind  of  mine  went  formerly  wandering 
about  as  it  liked,  as  it  listed,  as  it  pleased  ;  but 
I  shall  now  hold  it  in  thoroughly,  as  the  rider  who 
holds  the  hook  holds  in  the  furious  elephant. 

327.  Be  not  thoughtless,  watch  your  thoughts  ! 
Draw  yourself  out  of  the  evil  way,  like  an  elephant 
sunk  in  mud. 

328.  If  a  man  find  a  prudent  companion  who  walks 
with  him,  is  wise,  and  lives  soberly,  he  may  walk  with 
him,  overcoming  all  dangers,  happy,  but  considerate. 

329.  If  a  man  find  no  prudent  companion  who 
walks  with  him,  is  wise,  and  lives  soberly,  let  him 
walk  alone,  like  a  king  who  has  left  his  conquered 
country  behind, — like  an  elephant  in  the  forest. 

330.  It  is  better  to  live  alone,  there  is  no  com- 
panionship with  a  fool  ;  let  a  man  walk  alone,  let 
him  commit  no  sin,  with  few  wishes,  like  an  ele- 
phant in  the  forest. 


326.  Yoniso,  i.e.  yonua//,  is  rendered  by  Dr.  Fausboll '  sapientia,' 
and  this  is  the  meaning  ascribed  to  yoni  by  many  Buddhist  authori- 
ties. But  the  reference  to  HemaX'andra  (ed.  BoehtHngk  and  Rieu, 
p.  281)  shows  clearly  that  it  meant  'origin,'  or  'cause.'  Yoniso  occurs 
frequently  as  a  mere  adverb,  meaning  '  thoroughly,  radically'  (Dham- 
mapada,  p.  359),  and  yoniso  manasikara  (Dhammapada,  p.  no) 
means  '  taking  to  heart'  or  'minding  thoroughly,'  or,  what  is  nearly 
the  same,  'wisely.'  In  the  Lalita-vistara,  p.  41,  the  commentator  has 
clearly  mistaken  yoni^a/z,  changing  it  to  ye  'ni^^'O,  and  explaining  it 
by  yamanij-am,  whereas  M.  Foucaux  has  rightly  translated  it  by 
'depuis  I'origine.'  Professor  Weber  suspected  in  yoni-s-a^  a  double 
entendre,  but  even  grammar  would  show  that  our  author  is 
innocent  of  it.  In  Lalita-vistara,  p.  544,  1.  4,  ayonija  occurs  in 
the  sense  of  error. 

328,  329.  Cf.  Suttanipata,  vv.  44,  45. 


THE    ELEPHANT.  79 


331.  If  an  occasion  arises,  friends  are  pleasant; 
enjoyment  is  pleasant,  whatever  be  the  cause  ;  a 
good  work  is  pleasant  in  the  hour  of  death  ;  the 
giving  up  of  all  grief  is  pleasant. 

332.  Pleasant  in  the  world  is  the  state  of  a  mother, 
pleasant  the  state  of  a  father,  pleasant  the  state  of 
a  Sama?^a,  pleasant  the  state  of  a  Brahma^^a. 

2,3^.  Pleasant  is  virtue  lasting  to  old  age,  pleasant 
is  a  faith  firmly  rooted  ;  pleasant  is  attainment  of 
intelligence,  pleasant  is  avoiding  of  sins. 

332.  The  commentator  throughout  takes  these  words,  like  mat- 
teyyata,  &c.,  to  signify,  not  the  status  of  a  mother,  or  maternity, 
but  reverence  shown  to  a  mother. 


80'  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.   XXIV. 


A   . 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THIRST. 

334.  The  thirst  of  a  thoughtless  man  grows  like 
a  creeper  ;  he  runs  from  life  to  life,  like  a  monkey 
seeking  fruit  in  the  forest. 

335.  Whomsoever  this  fierce  thirst  overcomes, 
full  of  poison,  in  this  world,  his  sufferings  increase 
like  the  abounding  Birana.  grass. 

336.  He  who  overcomes  this  fierce  thirst,  difficult 
to  be  conquered  in  this  world,  sufferings  fall  off  from 
him,  like  water-drops  from  a  lotus  leaf. 

337.  This  salutary  word  I  tell  you, '  Do  ye,  as  many 
as  are  here  assembled,  dig  up  the  root  of  thirst,  as 
he  who  wants  the  sweet-scented  U^ira  root  must 
dig  up  the  Birana.  grass,  that  Mara  (the  tempter) 
may  not  crush  you  again  and  again,  as  the  stream 
crushes  the  reeds.' 

338.  As  a  tree,  even  though  it  has  been  cut  down, 
is  firm  so  long  as  its  root  is  safe,  and  grows  again, 
thus,  unless  the  feeders  of  thirst  are  destroyed,  this 
pain  (of  life)  will  return  again  and  again. 

339.  He  whose  thirst  running  towards  pleasure 
is  exceeding  strong  in  the  thirty-six  channels,  the 

334.  This  is  explained  by  a  story  in  the  Chinese  translation. 
Beal,  Dhammapada,  p.  148. 

335.  Birawa  grass  is  the  Andropogon  muricatum,  and  the 
scented  root  of  it  is  called  U^ira  (cf.  verse  337). 

338.  On  Anusaya,  i.  e.  Anu^aya  (Anlage),  see  Wassiljew,  Der 
Buddhismus,  p.  240  seq. 

339.  The  thirty-six  channels,  or  passions,  which  are  divided  by 
the  commentator  into  eighteen  external  and  eighteen  internal,  are 


THIRST.  8 1 

waves  will  carry  away  that  misguided  man,  viz.  his 
desires  which  are  set  on  passion. 

340.  The  channels  run  everywhere,  the  creeper 
(of  passion)  stands  sprouting  ;  if  you  see  the  creeper 
springing  up,  cut  its  root  by  means  of  knowledge. 

341.  A  creature's  pleasures  are  extravagant  and 
luxurious ;  sunk  in  lust  and  looking  for  pleasure,  men 
undergo  (again  and  again)  birth  and  decay. 

342.  Men,  driven  on  by  thirst,  run  about  like 
a  snared  hare ;  held  in  fetters  and  bonds,  they 
undergo  pain  for  a  long  time,  again  and  again. 

343.  Men,  driven  on  by  thirst,  run  about  like  a 
snared  hare ;  let  therefore  the  mendicant  drive  out 
thirst,  by  striving  after  passionlessness  for  himself. 

344.  He  who  having  got  rid  of  the  forest  (of 
lust)  (i.e.  after  having  reached  Nirva;^a)  gives  him- 
self over  to  forest-life  (i.e.  to  lust),  and  who,  when 
removed  from  the  forest  (i.  e.  from  lust),  runs  to  the 
forest  (i.  e.  to  lust),  look  at  that  man  !  though  free, 
he  runs  into  bondage. 


explained  by  Burnouf  (Lotus,  p.  649),  from  a  gloss  of  the  G^ina- 
alafikara :  '  Vindication  precise  des  affections  dont  un  Buddha 
acte  independant,  affections  qui  sont  au  nombre  de  dix-huit,  nous 
est  fourni  par  la  glose  d'un  livre  appartenant  aux  Buddhistes  de 
Ceylan,'  &c.  Subhilti  gives  the  right  reading  as  manapassavana ; 
cf.  Childers,  Notes,  p.  12. 

Vaha,  which  Dr.  FausboU  translates  by  '  equi,'  may  be  vaha, 
'undae.'     Cf.  Suttanipata,  v.  1034. 

344.  This  verse  seems  again  full  of  puns,  all  connected  with  the 
twofold  meaning  of  vana,  '  forest  and  lust/  By  replacing  '  forest ' 
by  '  lust,'  we  may  translate :  '  He  who,  when  free  from  lust,  gives 
himself  up  to  lust,  who,  when  removed  from  lust  runs  into  lust, 
look  at  that  man,'  &c.  Nibbana,  though  with  a  short  a,  may  be 
intended  to  remind  the  hearer  of  Nibbana.  The  right  reading  is 
nibbanatho ;  see  Childers,  Notes,  p.  8. 


82  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXIV. 

345.  Wise  people  do  not  call  that  a  strong  fetter 
which  is  made  of  iron,  wood,  or  hemp  ;  far  stronger 
is  the  care  for  precious  stones  and  rings,  for  sons 
and  a  wife. 

346.  That  fetter  wise  people  call  strong  which 
drags  down,  yields,  but  is  difficult  to  undo ;  after 
having  cut  this  at  last,  people  leave  the  world,  free 
from  cares,  and  leaving  desires  and  pleasures  behind. 

347.  Those  who  are  slaves  to  passions,  run  down 
with  the  stream  (of  desires),  as  a  spider  runs  down 
the  web  which  he  has  made  himself;  when  they 
have  cut  this,  at  last,  wise  people  leave  the  world, 
free  from  cares,  leaving;-  all  affection  behind. 

348.  Give  up  what  is  before,  give  up  what  is 
behind,  give  up  what  is  in  the  middle,  when  thou 
goest  to  the  other  shore  of  existence  ;  if  thy  mind 
is  altogether  free,  thou  wilt  not  again  enter  into 
birth  and  decay. 

349.  If  a  man  is  tossed  about  by  doubts,  full  of 
strong  passions,  and  yearning  only  for  what  is  de- 
lightful, his  thirst  will  grow  more  and  more,  and  he 
will  indeed  make  his  fetters  strong. 

350.  If  a  man  delights  in  quieting  doubts,  and, 
always  reflecting,  dwells  on  what   is   not   delightful 

345.  Apekha,  apeksha,  'care;'  see  Manu  VI,  41,  49  ;  Suttani- 
pata,  V.  37;  and  (rataka,  vol.  ii.  p.  140. 

346.  Paribba^,  i.e.  parivra^;  see  Manu  VI,  41. 

347.  The  commentator  explains  the  simile  of  the  spider  as 
follows :  '  As  a  spider,  after  having  made  its  thread-web,  sits  in 
the  middle,  and  after  killing  with  a  violent  rush  a  butterfly  or  a  fly 
which  has  fallen  in  its  circle,  drinks  its  juice,  returns,  and  sits 
again  in  the  same  place,  in  the  same  manner  creatures  who  are 
given  to  passions,  depraved  by  hatred,  and  maddened  by  wrath, 
run  along  the  stream  of  thirst  which  they  have  made  themselves, 
and  cannot  cross  it,'  Sec. 


TPIIRST.  83 

(the   impurity  of  the   body,  &c.),  he   certainly  will 
remove,  nay,  he  will  cut  the  fetter  of  Mara. 

351.  He  who  has  reached  the  consummation,  who 
does  not  tremble,  who  is  without  thirst  and  without 
sin,  he  has  broken  all  the  thorns  of  life  :  this  will  be 
his  last  body. 

352.  He  who  is  without  thirst  and  without  affec- 
tion, who  understands  the  words  and  their  interpre- 
tation, who  knows  the  order  of  letters  (those  which 
are  before  and  which  are  after),  he  has  received  his 
last  body,  he  is  called  the  great  sage,  the  great 
man. 

353.  '  I  have  conquered  all,  I  know  all,  in  all  con- 
ditions of  life  I  am  free  from  taint ;  I  have  left  all, 
and  through  the  destruction  of  thirst  I  am  free  ; 
having  learnt  myself,  whom  shall  I  teach  ?' 

354.  The  gift  of  the  law  exceeds  all  gifts ;  the 
sweetness  of  the  law  exceeds  all  sweetness  ;  the 
delight  in  the  law  exceeds  all  delights  ;  the  extinc- 
tion of  thirst  overcomes  all  pain. 

355.  Pleasures  destroy  the  foolish,  if  they  look 
not  for  the  other  shore  ;  the  foolish  by  his  thirst  for 
pleasures  destroys  himself,  as  if  he  were  his  own 
enemy. 

352.  As  to  nirutti,  and  its  technical  meaning  among  the  Bud- 
dliists,  see  Burnouf,  Lotus,  p.  841.  FausboU  translates  '  niruttis 
vocabulorum  peritus,'  which  may  be  right,  if  we  take  nirutti  in  the 
sense  of  the  language  of  the  Scriptures.  See  note  to  verse  363. 
Could  not  sannipata  mean  sawhita  or  sannikarsha  ?  Sannipata 
occurs  in  the  6'akala-pratii-akhya,  but  with  a  different  meaning. 

353.  Cf.  Suttanipata,  V.  210. 

354.  The  dhammadana,  or  'gift  of  the  law,'  is  the  technical 
term  for  instruction  in  the  Buddhist  religion.  See  Buddhaghosha's 
Parables,  p.  160,  where  the  story  of  the  Sakkadevara^a  is  told, 
and  where  a  free  rendering  of  our  verse  is  given. 


84  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXIV. 

356.  The  fields  are  damaged  by  weeds,  mankind 
is  damaged  by  passion  :  therefore  a  gift  bestowed 
on  the  passionless  brings  great  reward. 

357.  The  fields  are  damaged  by  weeds,  mankind 
is  damaged  by  hatred  :  therefore  a  gift  bestowed  on 
those  who  do  not  hate  brings  great  reward. 

358.  The  fields  are  damaged  by  weeds,  mankind 
is  damaged  by  vanity  :  therefore  a  gift  bestowed  on 
those  who  are  free  from  vanity  brings  great  reward. 

359.  The  fields  are  damaged  by  weeds,  mankind 
is  damaged  by  lust  :  therefore  a  gift  bestowed  on 
those  who  are  free  from  lust  bring^s  crreat  reward. 


THE    BHIKSHU.  85 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE    BHIKSHU    (mENDICANt). 

360.  Restraint  in  the  eye  is  good,  good  is  restraint 
in  the  ear,  in  the  nose  restraint  is  good,  good  is  re- 
straint in  the  tongue. 

361.  In  the  body  restraint  is  good,  good  is  re- 
straint in  speech,  in  thought  restraint  is  good,  good 
is  restraint  in  all  things.  A  Bhikshu,  restrained  in 
all  things,  is  freed  from  all  pain. 

362.  He  who  controls  his  hand,  he  who  controls 
his  feet,  he  who  controls  his  speech,  he  who  is  well 
controlled,  he  who  delights  inwardly,  who  is  collected, 
who  is  solitary  and  content,  him  they  call  Bhikshu. 

363.  The  Bhikshu  who  controls  his  mouth,  who 
speaks  wisely  and  calmly,  who  teaches  the  meaning 
and  the  law,  his  word  is  sweet. 

364.  He  who  dwells  in  the  law,  delights  in  the 
law,  meditates  on  the  law,  follows  the  law,  that 
Bhikshu  will  never  fall  away  from  the  true  law. 

365.  Let  him  not  despise  what  he  has  received, 


363.  On  artha  and  dharma,  see  Stanislas  Julien,  Les  Avadanas, 
I,  217,  note;  'Les  quatre  connaissances  sont;  i^  la  connaissance 
du  sens  (artha) ;  20  la  connaissance  de  la  Loi  (dharma) ;  3°  la  con- 
naissance des  explications  (niroukti) ;  40  la  connaissance  de  I'intel- 
ligence  (pratibhana).' 

364.  The  expression  dhammaramo,  'having  his  garden  or  de- 
light (Lustgarten)  in  the  law,'  is  well  matched  by  the  Brahmanic 
expression  ekarama,  i.e.  nirdvandva  (Mahabh.  XIII,  1930).  Cf. 
Suttanipata,  v.  326  ;  Dhammapada,  v.  32, 


86  DIIAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXV. 

nor   ever   envy  others :    a    mendicant   who   envies 
others  does  not  obtain  peace  of  mind. 

366.  A  Bhikshu  who,  though  he  receives  Httle, 
does  not  despise  what  he  has  received,  even  the 
gods  will  praise  him,  if  his  life  is  pure,  and  if  he  is 
not  slothful. 

367.  He  who  never  identifies  himself  with  name 
and  form,  and  does  not  grieve  over  what  is  no  more, 
he  indeed  is  called  a  Bhikshu. 

368.  The  Bhikshu  who  acts  with  kindness,  who  is 
calm  in  the  doctrine  of  Buddha,  will  reach  the  quiet 
place  (Nirva;2a),  cessation  of  natural  desires,  and 
happiness. 

369.  O  Bhikshu,  empty  this  boat !  if  emptied,  it 
will  go  quickly  ;  having  cut  off  passion  and  hatred, 
thou  wilt  go  to  Nirva;^a. 

370.  Cut  off  the  five  (senses),  leave  the  five,  rise 
above  the  five.  A  Bhikshu,  who  has  escaped  from 
the  five  fetters,  he  is  called  Oghati;^;m,  *  saved  from 
the  flood.' 

371.  Meditate,  O  Bhikshu,  and  be  not  heedless  ! 
Do  not  direct  thy  thought  to  what  gives  pleasure, 
that  thou  mayest  not  for  thy  heedlessness  have  to 
swallow  the  iron  ball  (in  hell),  and  that  thou  mayest 
not  cry  out  when  burning,  '  This  is  pain.' 


367.  Namariipa  is  here  used  again  in  its  technical  sense  of 
mind  and  body,  neither  of  which,  however,  is  with  the  Buddhists 
atman,  or  *  self.'  Asat, '  what  is  not,'  may  therefore  mean  the  same 
as  namarupa,  or  we  may  take  it  in  the  sense  of  what  is  no  more, 
as,  for  instance,  the  beauty  or  youth  of  the  body,  the  vigour  of  the 
mind,  &c. 

368.  See  Childers,  Notes,  p.  11. 

371.  The  swallowing  of  hot  iron  balls  is  considered  as  a  punish- 
ment in  hell;  see  verse  308.     Professor  Weber  has  perceived  the 


THE    BHIKSHU.  Sy 


372.  Without  knowledge  there  Is  no  meditation, 
without  meditation  there  is  no  knowledge  :  he  who 
has  knowledge  and  meditation  is  near  unto  Nirva^^a. 

373.  A  Bhikshu  who  has  entered  his  empty  house, 
and  whose  mind  is  tranquil,  feels  a  more  than  human 
delight  when  he  sees  the  law  clearly. 

374.  As  soon  as  he  has  considered  the  origin  and 
destruction  of  the  elements  (khandha)  of  the  body, 
he  finds  happiness  and  joy  which  belong  to  those 
who  know  the  immortal  (Nirva;2a). 

375.  And  this  is  the  beginning  here  for  a  wise 
Bhikshu  :  watchfulness  over  the  senses,  contented- 
ness,  restraint  under  the  law  ;  keep  noble  friends 
whose  life  is  pure,  and  who  are  not  slothful. 

376.  Let  him  live  in  charity,  let  him  be  perfect 
in  his  duties  ;  then  in  the  fulness  of  delight  he  will 
make  an  end  of  suffering. 

377.  As  the  Vassika  plant  sheds  its  withered 
flowers,  men  should  shed  passion  and  hatred,  O  ye 
Bhikshus ! 

378.  The  Bhikshu  whose  body  and  tongue  and 
mind  are  quieted,  who  is  collected,  and  has  rejected 
the  baits  of  the  world,  he  is  called  quiet. 

379.  Rouse  thyself  by  thyself,  examine  thyself  by 
thyself,  thus  self-protected  and  attentive  wilt  thou 
live  happily,  O  Bhikshu  ! 

380.  For  self  is  the  lord  of  self,  self  is  the  refuge 
of  self ;  therefore  curb  thyself  as  the  merchant  curbs 
a  good  horse. 

right  meaning  of  bhavassu,  which  can  only  be  bhavayasva,  but 
I  doubt  whether  the  rest  of  his  rendering  is  right,  for  who  would 
swallow  an  iron  ball  by  accident  ? 

372.  Cf.  Beal,  Catena,  p.  247. 

375.  Cf.  Suttanipata,  v.  337. 


DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXV. 


381.  The  Bhikshu,  full  of  delight,  who  is  calm  in 
the  doctrine  of  Buddha  will  reach  the  quiet  place  (Nir- 
va;2a),  cessation  of  natural  desires,  and  happiness. 

382.  He  who,  even  as  a  young  Bhikshu,  applies 
himself  to  the  doctrine  of  Buddha,  brightens  up  this 
world,  like  the  moon  when  free  from  clouds. 


381.  See  verse  368.      D'Alwis  translates,   'dissolution   of  the 
sahkharas  (elements  of  existence).' 


THE    BRAHMAiVA.  89 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    BRAHMAiVA    (aRHAT). 

T,S^.  Stop  the  stream  valiantly,  drive  away  the 
desires,  O  Brahma/^a!  When  you  have  understood 
the  destruction  of  all  that  was  made,  you  will  under- 
stand that  which  was  not  made. 

384.  If  the  Brahma;za  has  reached  the  other  shore 
in  both  laws  (in  restraint  and  contemplation),  all 
bonds  vanish  from  him  who  has  obtained  knowledge. 

385.  He  for  whom  there  is  neither  this  nor  that 
shore,  nor  both,  him,  the  fearless  and  unshackled, 
I  call  indeed  a  Brahma^m. 

386.  He  who  is  thoughtful,  blameless,  settled, 
dutiful,  without  passions,  and  who  has  attained  the 
highest  end,  him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma/^a. 

387.  The  sun  is  bright  by  day,  the  moon  shines 
by  night,  the  warrior  is  bright  in  his  armour,  the 
Brahma;?a  is  bright  in  his  meditation  ;  but  Buddha, 
the  Awakened,  is  bright  with  splendour  day  and 
night. 

388.  Because  a  man  is  rid  of  evil,  therefore  he  is 
called  Brahma^^a  ;  because  he  walks  quietly,  there- 
fore he  is  called  Sama;^a ;  because  he  has  sent  away 
his  own  impurities,  therefore  he  is  called  Pravra^ita 
(Pabba^ita,  a  pilgrim). 

385.  The  exact  meaning  of  the  two  shores  is  not  quite  clear, 
and  the  commentator  who  takes  them  in  the  sense  of  internal  and 
external  organs  of  sense,  can  hardly  be  right.     See  verse  86. 

388.  These  would-be  etymologies  are  again  interesting  as  show- 
ing the  decline  of  the  etymological  life  of  the  spoken  language  of 
[10]  k 


90  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXVI. 

389.  No  one  should  attack  a  Brahma;2a,  but  no 
Brahnia;/a  (if  attacked)  should  let  himself  fly  at  his 
aggressor!  Woe  to  him  who  strikes  a  Brahma/^a, 
more  woe  to  him  who  flies  at  his  aggressor ! 

390.  It  advantages  a  Brdhma^a  not  a  little  if  he 
holds  his  mind  back  from  the  pleasures  of  life  ;  when 
all  wish  to  injure  has  vanished,  pain  will  cease. 

391.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma^za  who  does 
not  offend  by  body,  word,  or  thought,  and  is  con- 
trolled on  these  three  points. 

392.  After  a  man  has  once  understood  the  law 
as  taught  by  the  Well-awakened  (Buddha),  let  him 
worship  it  carefully,  as  the  Brahma/za  worships  the 
sacrificial  fire. 

393.  A  man  does  not  become  a  Brahma;^a  by  his 
platted  hair,  by  his  family,  or  by  birth  ;  in  whom 
there  is  truth  and  righteousness,  he  is  blessed,  he  is 
a  Brahmawa. 

394.  What  is  the  use  of  platted  hair,  O  fool !  what 
of  the  raiment  of  goat-skins  ?  Within  thee  there  is 
ravening,  but  the  outside  thou  makest  clean. 

395.  The  man  who  wears  dirty  raiments,  who  is 

India  at  the  time  when  such  etymologies  became  possible.  In 
order  to  derive  Brahmawa  from  vah,  it  must  have  been  pronounced 
bahma;^o ;  vah,  '  to  remove,'  occurs  frequently  in  the  Buddhistical 
Sanskrit.  Cf.  Lal.Vist.  p.  551,1.1;  553,  1.  7.  See  note  to  verse  265. 
390.  I  am  afraid  I  have  taken  too  much  liberty  with  this  verse. 
Dr.  Fausboll  translates, '  Non  Brahmawae  hoc  paulo  melius,  quando 
retentio  fit  mentis  a  jucundis.' 

393.  Fausboll  proposes  to  read^a^/^a  (^atya).  'Both'  in  the  first 
edition  of  my  translation  was  a  misprint  for  '  birth.' 

394.  I  have  not  copied  the  language  of  the  Bible  more  than 
I  was  justified  in.  The  words  are  abbhantaran  te  ga.ha.mm,  bahiraw 
parima^^asi, '  interna  est  abyssus,  externum  mundas.'  Cf.  G'ataka, 
vol.  i.  p.  481. 

395.  The  expression  Kisan  dhamanisanthatam  is  the  Sanskrit 


THE    BRAHMAiVA.  9 1 


emaciated  and  covered  with  veins,  who  lives  alone 
in  the  forest,  and  meditates,  him  I  call  indeed  a 
Brahma;^a. 

396.  I  do  not  call  a  man  a  Brahma;2a  because  of 
his  origin  or  of  his  mother.  He  is  indeed  arrogant, 
and  he  is  wealthy :  but  the  poor,  who  is  free  from 
all  attachments,  him  I  call  indeed  a  Brdhma/^a. 

397.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  who  has  cut 
all  fetters,  who  never  trembles,  is  independent  and 
unshackled. 

398.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brihma;2a  who  has  cut 
the  strap  and  the  thong,  the  chain  with  all  that  per- 
tains to  it,  who  has  burst  the  bar,  and  is  awakened. 

399.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  who,  though 
he  has  committed  no  offence,  endures  reproach,  bonds, 
and  stripes,  who  has  endurance  for  his  force,  and 
strength  for  his  army. 

400.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma/^a  who  is  free 
from  anger,  dutiful,  virtuous,  without  appetite,  who 
is  subdued,  and  has  received  his  last  body. 

kn'szm  dhamantsantatam,  the  frequent  occurrence  of  which  in  the 
Mahabharata  has  been  pointed  out  by  Boehtlingk,  s.  v.  dhamani. 
It  looks  more  Hke  a  Brahmanic  than  like  a  Buddhist  phrase. 

396.  From  verse  396  to  the  first  half  of  verse  423,  the  text  of 
the  Dhammapada  agrees  with  the  text  of  the  VasisliMa-Bharadva^a- 
sutra.  These  verses  are  translated  by  D'Alwis  in  his  Nirvawa, 
pp.  113-118,  and  again  by  Fausboll,  Suttanipata,  v.  620  seq. 

The  text  contains  puns  on  k\nka.ndi,  which  means  '  wealth,'  but 
also  'attachment;'  cf  Childers,  s. v. 

398.  D'Alwis  points  out  a  double  entendre  in  these  words. 
Nandhi  may  be  either  the  strap  that  goes  round  a  drum,  or  en- 
mity; varatta  may  be  either  a  thong  or  attachment;  sandana 
either  chain  or  scepticism;  sahanakkamam  either  due  order  or 
all  its  concomitants  ;  paligha  either  bar  or  ignorance. 

399.  The  exact  meaning  of  balanika  is  difficult  to  find.  Does 
it  mean,  possessed  of  a  strong  army,  or  facing  a  force,  or  leading 
a  force  ? 

k  2 


92  DHAMMAPADA.      CHAP.  XXVI. 

401.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;za  who  does 
not  cling  to  pleasures,  like  water  on  a  lotus  leaf,  like 
a  mustard  seed  on  the  point  of  a  needle. 

402.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  who,  even 
here,  knows  the  end  of  his  suffering,  has  put  down 
his  burden,  and  is  unshackled. 

403.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;/a  whose  know- 
ledge is  deep,  who  possesses  wisdom,  who  knows 
the  right  way  and  the  wrong,  and  has  attained  the 
highest  end. 

404.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma/za  who  keeps 
aloof  both  from  laymen  and  from  mendicants,  who 
frequents  no  houses,  and  has  but  few  desires. 

405.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma/2a  who  finds  no 
fault  with  other  beings,  whether  feeble  or  strong, 
and  does  not  kill  nor  cause  slaughter. 

406.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma/^a  who  is  tole- 
rant with  the  intolerant,  mild  with  fault-finders,  and 
free  from  passion  among  the  passionate. 

407.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  from  whom 
anger  and  hatred,  pride  and  envy  have  dropt  like 
a  mustard  seed  from  the  point  of  a  needle. 

408.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;/a  who  utters 
true  speech,  instructive  and  free  from  harshness,  so 
that  he  offend  no  one. 

409.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;2a  who  takes 
nothing  in  the  world  that  is  not  given  him,  be  it 
long  or  short,  small  or  large,  good  or  bad. 

410.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  who  fosters 
no  desires  for  this  world  or  for  the  next,  has  no  incli- 
nations, and  is  unshackled. 

405.  On  tasa  and  thavara,  see  Childers,  s.  v.,  and  D'Alwis,  Nir- 
vawa,  p.  115.  On  da«</a,  'the  rod,'  see  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  355, 
note. 


THE    BRAHMAiVA.  93 


411.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma/za  who  has  no 
interests,  and  when  he  has  understood  (the  truth), 
does  not  say  How,  how  ?  and  who  has  reached  the 
depth  of  the  Immortal. 

412.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;/a  who  in  this 
world  is  above  good  and  evil,  above  the  bondage  of 
both,  free  from  grief,  from  sin,  and  from  impurity, 

413.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma^^a  who  is  bright 
like  the  moon,  pure,  serene,  undisturbed,  and  in 
whom  all  gaiety  is  extinct. 

414.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma?2a  who  has  tra- 
versed this  miry  road,  the  impassable  world  and  its 
vanity,  who  has  gone  through,  and  reached  the  other 
shore,  is  thoughtful,  guileless,  free  from  doubts,  free 
from  attachment,  and  content. 

415.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;/a  who  in  this 
world,  leaving  all  desires,  travels  about  without  a 
home,  and  in  whom  all  concupiscence  is  extinct. 

416.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  who,  leaving 
all  longings,  travels  about  without  a  home,  and  in 
whom  all  covetousness  is  extinct. 

417.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  who,  after 
leaving   all  bondage   to  men,   has  risen   above  all 

411.  Akathahkathi  is  explained  by  Buddhaghosa  as  meaning, 
'  free  from  doubt  or  hesitation.'  He  also  uses  kathafikatha  in  the 
sense  of  '  doubt'  (verse  414).  In  the  Kavyadarja,  III,  17,  the  com- 
mentator explains  akatham  by  katharahitam,  nirvivadam,  which 
would  mean,  '  without  a  katha,  a  speech,  a  story  without  contra- 
diction, unconditionally.'  From  our  passage,  however,  it  seems  as 
if  kathafikatha  was  a  noun  derived  from  kathahkathayati,  '  to  say 
How,  how?'  so  that  neither  the  first  nor  the  second  element  had 
anything  to  do  with  kath, 'to  relate;'  and  in  that  case  akatham, 
too,  ought  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  '  without  a  Why.' 

412.  See  verse  39.  The  distinction  between  good  and  evil 
vanishes  when  a  man  has  retired  from  the  world,  and  has  ceased 
to  act,  longing  only  for  deliverance. 


94  DHAMMAPADA.       CHAP.  XXVI. 

bondage  to  the  gods,  and  is  free  from  all  and  every 
bondage. 

418.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma^^a  who  has  left 
what  gives  pleasure  and  what  gives  pain,  who  is 
cold,  and  free  from  all  germs  (of  renewed  life),  the 
hero  who  has  conquered  all  the  worlds. 

419.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;^a  who  knows 
the  destruction  and  the  return  of  beings  everywhere, 
who  is  free  from  bondage,  welfaring  (Sugata),  and 
awakened  (Buddha). 

418.  Upadhi,  if  not  used  in  a  technical  sense,  is  best  trans- 
lated by  '  passions  or  affections.'  Technically  there  are  four  upadhis 
or  substrata,  viz.  the  kandhas,  kama,  '  desire,'  kilesa,  '  sin,'  and 
kamma,  '  work.'  The  Brahmawa  may  be  called  nirupadhi,  as  being 
free  from  desire,  misery,  and  work  and  its  consequences,  but  not 
yet  of  the  kandhas,  which  end  through  death  only.  The  com- 
mentator explains  nirupadhi  by  nirupakkilesa,/  free  from  sin.'  See 
Childers,  s.  v.  nibbana,  p.  268  a. 

419.  Sugata  is  one  of  those  many  words  in  Buddhist  Hterature 
which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  translate,  because  they  have  been 
taken  in  so  many  acceptations  by  the  Buddhists  themselves. 
Sugata  etymologically  means  'one  who  has  fared  well,'  sugati 
means  'happiness  and  blessedness.'  It  is  wrong  to  translate  it 
literally  by  'welcome,'  for  that  in  Sanskrit  is  svagata;  and  we 
cannot  accept  Dr.  Eitel's  statement  (Handbook,  p.  138)  that 
sugata  stands  incorrectly  for  svagata.  Sugata  is  one  of  the 
not  very  numerous  technical  terms  in  Buddhism  for  which  hitherto 
we  know  of  no  antecedents  in  earlier  Brahmanism.  It  may  have 
been  used  in  the  sense  of '  happy  and  blessed,'  but  it  never  became 
a  title,  while  in  Buddhism  it  has  become,  not  only  a  title,  but 
almost  a  proper  name  of  Buddha.  The  same  applies  to  tatha- 
gata,  lit.  'thus  come,'  but  used  in  Sanskrit  very  much  like 
tathavidha,  in  the  sense  of  talis,  while  in  Buddhism  it  means 
a  Buddha.  There  are  of  course  many  interpretations  of  the  word, 
and  many  reasons  are  given  why  Buddhas  should  be  called 
Tathagata  (Burnouf,  Introduction,  p.  75,  &c.)  Boehthngk  s.  v. 
supposed  that,  because  Buddha  had  so  many  predicates,  he  was, 
for  the  sake  of  brevity,  called  '  such  a  one  as  he  really  is.'  I  think 
we   may  go   a  step  further.     Another   word,  tadrzja,  meaning 


THE    BRAHMAA^A.  95 


420.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;2a  whose  path 
the  gods  do  not  know,  nor  spirits  (Gandharvas), 
nor  men,  whose  passions  are  extinct,  and  who  is 
an  Arhat  (venerable). 

421.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahmawa  who  calls 
nothing  his  own,  whether  it  be  before,  behind,  or 
between,  who  is  poor,  and  free  from  the  love  of  the 
world. 

422.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma;2a,  the  manly, 
the  noble,  the  hero,  the  great  sage,  the  conqueror, 
the  impassible,  the  accomplished,  the  awakened. 

423.  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahma^^a  who  knows 
his  former  abodes,  who  sees  heaven  and  hell,  has 
reached  the  end  of  births,  is  perfect  in  knowledge, 
a  sage,  and  whose  perfections  are  all  perfect. 

talis,  becomes  in  Pali,  under  the  form  of  tadi,  a  name  of 
Buddha's  disciples,  and  afterwards  of  Buddha  himself.  If  applied 
to  Buddha's  disciples,  it  may  have  meant  originally  '  such  as  he,'  i.  e. 
his  fellows ;  but  when  applied  to  Buddha  himself,  it  can  only  mean 
'such  a  one,'  i.e.  'so  great  a  man.'  The  Sanskrit  marsha  is 
probably  the  Pali  mariso,  which  stands  for  madiso,  Sk.  madr/.fa, 
'  hke  me,'  used  in  Pali  when  a  superior  addresses  others  as  his 
equals,  and  afterwards  changed  into  a  mere  title  of  respect. 


INDEX. 


The  figures  of  this  Index  refer  to  the  numbers  of  the  verses. 


Abhasvara,  gods,  200. 

Agni,  worshipped,  107,  392. 

A^atajatru,  defeated  by  Prasena^it, 
201. 

Akanish//6as,  218. 

Akiw/^ana,  87. 

Akko^k/A,  I. 

Amata  (am/-/ta),  the  immortal  (Nir- 
vana), 21. 

Animitta,  92,  93. 

Anivejana,  40. 

Anujaya,  foundation,  root,  338. 

Apastamba,  Dharma-sutra,  39,  96, 
109, 

Appamadavagga,  21. 

Arahantavagga,  90. 

Arahat,  and  Ariya,  164. 

Ariya,  the  elect,  22,  79. 

—  etymology  of,  270. 

Artha  and  dharma,  363. 

Arupadhatu,  218. 

Asava,  asrava,  253. 

Asava,  khi«asava,  89. 

Asrava,  39.     See  Asava. 

Ajoka,  21. 

Ajraya,  89. 

Atharva-veda,  96. 

Attavagga,  157. 

Atula,  227. 

Avadana,  legend,  etymology  of,  183. 

Avasa,  monastery,  72,  302. 

Avassuta,  39. 

Avr/ha,  218. 

Balavagga,  60. 

Bee,  emblem  of  a  sage,  49. 

Bhikkhuvagga,  360. 

Bhikshu,  a  mendicant,  31,  32,  72,  75, 
266,  267. 

Bhikshu,  different  from  Sramana.  and 
Brahmawa,  142. 

Bhovadi,  arrogant,  addressing  vener- 
able people  by  bho  !  396. 

[10] 


Bhuri,  knowledge,  282. 
Bodhiru/^i  (508-511  A.D.),  294. 
Bodhyanga.    See  Sambodhyanga,  89. 
Brahmajalasutta,  153. 
Brahman,  above  the  gods,  230. 
Brahman,  with  Mara,  105. 
Brahmawa,  with  5rama«a  and  Bhik- 
shu, 142. 
Brahma«a,  etymology  of,  388. 
Brahma«avagga,  383. 
Buddha's  last  words,  153,  154. 

—  commandments,  183,  185. 
Buddhavagga,  179. 

Convent  (avasa),  73,  302. 

Dah,  to  burn,  not  sah,  31. 
DaWanidhana,  142,  405. 
Daw^avagga,  129. 
Death,  its  dominion,  86. 

—  king  of,  170. 

Dhamma,  plur.,  forms,  things,  279. 
Dhamma,  plur.,  three  of  the  five  khan- 

dhas,  vedana,  sa;7/7a,  and  safi- 

khara,  i. 
Dhammadana,  354. 
Dhammatthavagga,  256. 
Dhanapalaka,  324. 
Dharma,  explained,  i. 
Dhatu,  eighteen,  89. 
Digambaras    (Gainas,    followers    of 

Mahavira),  141. 
Dipa,  island  (arhatship),  25,  26. 
Dipa,  dvipa,  island,  236,  238. 
Dipaiikara,  236,  238. 
Dipavawsa,  21. 
Disciple  (sekha),  45. 
D\tt/A,  drishn,  heresy,  164. 
Divyavadana,  141,  149. 
Drinking,  247. 

Eightfold,  the  way,  191,  273. 
Elephant,  Buddha,  320. 

1 


98 


DHAMMAPADA. 


Fetters  of  life,  345,  346,  350. 

Fire,  worshipped  by  Brahmans,  107, 

392. 
Flowers,  with  and  without  scent,  51, 

52. 
Four  truths,  190,  273. 

Gandharva,  104. 

Gatha,  loi. 

Gathasangraha,  183, 

Gods,  94,  200. 

Gold  pieces,  186,  230  (nekkha). 

Good  and  evil  bear  fruit,  119-122. 

Gotama,  296. 

Graha,  gaha,  251. 

Gainas,  104,  141. 

Gambu  river,  gold  of  it,  230. 

Garavagga,  146. 

Gataka,  9,  33,  35-39,  72,  i49,  158, 

179,  187,  285,  294,  306,  345. 
Ga;a,  sign  of  5aiva  ascetic,  141. 

Hair,  platted,  of  Brahmans,  393,  394- 
Hatred,  how  it  ceases,  3,  4. 
—  ceases  by  love,  5. 
Hitopadeja,  129. 

Immortal  place,  114. 
Immortality  and  death,  21. 
Indra's  bolt,  95. 
Island  (dipa),  25,  26. 

Kakajura,  244. 

Kali,  unlucky  die,  202. 

Kalya«amitra,  78. 

Kanakamuni,  183. 

Kasava,  kashaya,  yellow  dress,  9. 

Kathasaritsagara,  125. 

Kavyadarja,  411. 

Kiliw/Ai,  klish/a,  15. 

KisagotamT,  45. 

Kodhavagga,  221. 

Kuja,  grass,  311. 

Kuja  grass,  for  eating  with,  70. 

A'ittavagga,  33. 

Lalita-vistara,  39,  44,  46,  153,  251, 

2^54,  275,  282,  320,  326,  388. 
Lankavatara-sutra,  294. 
Lily  (lotus),  its  purity,  58,  59, 
Lokavagga,  167. 
Lotus  leaf,  water  on  it,  401, 

Made  and  not  made,  383. 


Maggavagga,  273. 
Maghavan,  Indra,  30. 
Mahabharata,  9,  44,  87,  92,  96,  129, 

1315133,142,150,185,187,1985 

200,202,  223,  227,  248,  275,  287, 

306,  364,  395. 
INIahaparinibbana-sutta,  39, 153. 
Mahavawsa,  21. 
Mahavastu,  quotes  Dharmapada,  and 

Sahasravarga,  100, 
Mahavira,  141. 
Malavagga,  235. 
Mallika,  54. 
Mandhat/v,  185. 
INIanu,  laws,  71,  96,  109,  131,  150, 

251,  320,  345,  346. 
INIara,  the  tempter,  7,  8,  34,  37,  40, 

46,  57,  105,  175,  274,  276,  337, 

350. 
iNIilk,  turning  suddenly,  71. 
jMiracles,  Buddha's  view  of,  254. 
jNIithila,  200. 

Muni,  etymology  of,  268,  269. 
Mustard  seed,  on  a  needle,  401,  407. 

Nagavagga,  320, 

Nakedness,  141. 

Namarupa,  mind  and  body,  221,  367. 

Nibbuta,  nirvr/ta,  freed,  89. 

Niraya,  hell,  306. 

Nirayavagga,  306. 

Nirukti,  363. 

Nirva«a,  23,  32,  75,  126,  134,  184, 
203,  204,  218,  225,  226,  285, 
289,  323,  368,  372,  374. 

Nishkashaya,  free  from  impurity, 
play  on  word,  9. 

Old-in-vain,  260. 
Overcome  evil  by  good,  223. 

Paki««akavagga,  290. 

Pakkhandin,  praskandin,  244. 

PaWitavagga,  76. 

Papavagga,  116. 

Paragamin,  85. 

Pare,  01  ttoAXoi,  6. 

Parjvanatha,  141. 

Path,  the  evil  and  the  good,  17,  18, 

316-319. 
Patricide,  294. 
Piyavagga,  209. 
Platted  hair,  141. 
Prapa/z^a,  254. 
Prasena_g-it,  defeated  by  A^atajatru, 


INDEX. 


99 


Pratibhana,  363. 

Pratimoksha,  183,  185. 

Pravra^,  83. 

Pravra^ita,  etymology  of,  388, 

Proverbs,  96. 

Puns,  283,  294,  295,  305. 

Pupphavagga,  44. 

Ra^a,  dust,  passion,  313. 
Ramayawa,  129. 

Sacrifice,  wortliless,  106. 
Sahassavagga,  quoted  in  Mahavastu, 

100. 
Sahita=:Tipi/aka,  19. 
St.  Luke,  130. 
St.  Matthew,  252. 
St.  Mark,  157. 
Sama«a,  etymology  of,  265. 
Sama;7/?a,  priesthood,  20. 
Sambodhyahga,  89. 
Saw/sara,  60. 

Sawskara,  conception,  202. 
—  the  five  skandhas,  202. 
Sawyutta-nikaya,  69. 
Sanatsu^atiya,  21. 
Sankhara,  creature,  255. 
Sankhata,  70. 
Siiflgtid,  perception,  202. 
Sara,  truth,  reality,  1 1 . 
Sati,  smnti,  intense  thought,  91. 
Sayanasanam,  jayanasanam,  185. 
Self,  lord  of  self,  160,  165. 
Seven  elements  of  knowledge,  89. 
Shore,  the  other,  85,  384. 
—  the  two  shores,  385. 
Sindhu  horses,  322. 
Skandha,  body,  202. 
Snowy  mountains,  304. 
Spider,  347. 

Spoon,  perceives  no  taste,  64. 
Sugata,  Buddha,  285,419  (welfaring). 
Sukhavagga,  197. 

Suttanipata,  20,  61,  87, 125,  141,  142, 
170,  185,  205,   239,    306,   328, 

339,  345,   353,    3^4,  375,  39^- 
423. 

5akala-pratijakhya,  352. 
Sunya,  92. 

5vetambaras    (Gainas,   followers    of 
Parjvanatha),  141. 


Tabernacle,  maker  of,  153. 

Tagara,  plant,  54. 

Taittiriya-arawyaka,  96. 

Tawhavagga,  334. 

Tathagata,  254. 

Tathagatas,  are  preachers,  276. 

Ten  evil  states,  137. 

Thirty-six  passions,  359. 

Thought,  word,  and  deed,  96. 

Thoughts,  their  influence,  i. 

Tirthankara,  104. 

Tonsure,  264. 

Trijara«a,  190. 

Trividhadvara,  thought,  word,  and 

deed,  96. 
Twin-verses,  i. 

Ukku/ika,  see  Utkamkasana,  141. 
Uncreated  (akata),  97. 
Upadana,  20. 
Upadhi,  418. 
Upadhiviveka,  203. 
Upama,  aupamya,  129. 
Upasarga,  misfortune,  139. 
tJrdhvawsrotas,  218. 
Utka/ukasana,  sitting  on  the  hams, 
141. 

Vaha,  horse,  or  vaha,  wave,  339. 

Vana,  forest  and  lust,  283. 

Vasish^/ja-Bharadvag-a-sutra,  396. 

Vassika  flower,  377. 

Vassiki,  flower,  55. 

Vedana,  sensation,  202. 

Videha,  king  of,  200. 

Vi_§-;7ana,  knowledge,  202. 

Vimoksha,  freedom,  92,  93. 

Vinaya-pi/aka,  28,  307. 

Vishwu-sutra,  9. 

Vijvabhu  Tathagata,  49. 

Viveka,  separation,  retirement, 7  5, 87, 

Works,  good,  220. 
World,  the  next,  176. 
—  of  the  gods,  177. 

Yama,  44,  45,  235. 

Yama's  messengers,  235. 

Yamakavagga,  i. 

Ye  dhamma,  &c.,  183. 

Yellow  dress,  9,  10,  307. 

Yon'uab,  truly,  thoroughly,  ^26. 


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